


False Pretense

by iStygianEmpress (iDarkEmpress)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin
Genre: Angst, Band member Eren, College Student Eren, College Student Levi, Eren Is a Little Shit, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Singer!Eren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 02:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11071812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iDarkEmpress/pseuds/iStygianEmpress
Summary: Since their childhood days, Levi is a friend of the Yeager twins. They're inseparable, and something being more than friends eventually developed. But there comes an unfortunate event, an event that separated them. With a promise that they'll meet again, Levi continued his life, waiting for the day that they'll meet again to come.After five years of waiting, Levi's hope to see them is slowly withering. That is until a certain brunet decided to show up and repeat the history, continuing what was left off in the past by jerking the swing off once again.Now that they're together again, how will things work out? Is it going to be the perfect love story they dreamed of? Or will a dark pretense destroy everything?*******Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot. All credits belong to their respective creators/owners.This is already completed in Wattpad. You can check it out there if you want to. It is published in the same username as I use here.





	1. The Past

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This story starts with Levi/OC. Don't worry, this is an EreRi story. You'll see it later.
> 
> Other than that, enjoy.

_10 years ago_

_A little raven haired boy sat alone in one of the swings using both of his small feet to will the swing to move. Among the swarm of children in the park, running around, laughing and talking to each other, enjoying themselves as they bask under the sun, this little raven is almost unnoticeable. Little hands wrapped around the metal chains which holds the swing from the metal above, he ignored the little pinch of loneliness pooling in his gut._

_He would never admit it, though. The stoic, impassive look on his face wouldn't give any of that thought away, and he already experienced other children his age running away from him because of it. It made him frown in disdain before he looked down, noticing how his feet couldn't reach the ground, making him unable to make the swing move. The inability to move made the crease in between his eyebrows deepen, silently blaming his height for it._

_He sure is a little short for children his age, but his maturity was surprising. He isn't a snot covered child who is always drenching in sweat and dirt like the others. Instead, he's always in a clean and pristine condition, not letting himself be covered in any dirt. He talks in a way that's a little advanced for his age, making him a bit intimidating._

_That doesn't change the fact that he's still a child, though, and there are times when he wanted to play._

_Like today._

_He huffed and crossed his arms, irritated by his current situation, not aware of the twins who are silently giggling behind him._

_The sudden jerk of the swing almost made him fall to the ground, save for a pair of arms that helped him balance himself. As he recovered from the sudden movement, he snapped his head back to glare at whoever pushed his swing. What he saw is something he didn't expect._

_Two faces of the same look stands behind him. They have the same look except for the color of their eyes- one with turquoise and the other with amber._

_He's amazed with what he saw being the child he was but his face denied access over his thoughts. He looked at them with a blank face as they returned it with a bright, wide grin._

_"Hi! My name's Eren and this is Rein! We're twins!" The child with the turquoise eyes greeted him in a very energetic tone. The other with the amber eyes smiled and waved at him. He was surprised by how friendly the twins are, not being repelled by his looks unlike the majority of the kids their age._

_"Yeah, it's pretty obvious," he answered in an uninterested manner as he continued to look at them. "Why did you pushed the swing? What if I fell from it?"_

_Both of the twins gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, I told Eren to just approach you and talk to you but he insisted that it would be much better if we'll surprise you," the Rein kid said as he gave his twin a glare._

_"Sorry, we just want to talk to you. I don't want our first meeting to be boring." The Eren kid stuck his tongue out at his twin, acting childishly._

_'Boring? What? Does making me fall to the ground can make things interesting?'_

_He rolled his eyes. He thought that they're not one of those insufferable brats but based on how they're acting, especially the Eren kid, looks like he's wrong._

_"So what are you doing?" Rein took the swing at his right while Eren took the one at his left. Great, now he's forced to sit in between two weird kids having the same faces._

_"Sitting and breathing in case you cannot see," he answered in a way full of sarcasm which made the twins huffed at the same, very exact time like they're in sync. They looked at each other before they laughed, leaving a very confused Levi switching stares at them._

_After a good few minutes of laughing, they stopped and heaved to catch their breath._

_"That was so cool!" Rein said in amazement._

_"Yeah, I wish that we can do that often!" Eren said in agreement as they looked at each other, past the raven sitting in between them._

_The twins started to move their swings as the raven remained still. He glared at their legs, long enough to reach the ground and force the swing to move before looking at his own. The twins seemed to notice the lack of movement and Eren asked him in wonder. "Why aren't you moving?"_

_He glared at him but Eren didn't look affected. He looked down to his legs before moving it to his own then looked at Eren's face before looking at the ground. "I can't. My legs are too short." He almost whispered, some because of sadness and some because of embarrassment. He kept his eyes on the ground, waiting for the teasing that's to come._

_Instead of doing what the raven expected, Eren silently stood up and gestured for his twin to do the same. Rein followed suit and they went behind Levi. Eren tapped the smaller boy's shoulder, causing him to look back._

_"What?"_

_"Hold on, we'll push the swing for you." Without waiting for the raven's response, both of them pushed the swing gently, making the swing that's carrying the raven rock back and forth into the air. They continued it and laughed as they watch the smaller boy enjoy the rush of wind._

_After minutes of swinging, the raven asked the twins to halt the movement. They did what he had asked, a wide grin on their faces as he looked at them._

_"Why did you talked to me?" Confusion made its way to the twins' faces. "Huh? Why not? We wanted to be friends with you." Rein answered and Eren nodded in agreement._

_"Why me? There's plenty of kids here."_

_"You're alone so we thought that you needed company."_

_"And besides," Eren added. "Nobody deserves to be alone."_

_That's how Levi made his first friends._

_Years had passed and the trio's bond got stronger and stronger. They were almost inseparable, can always be seen together at all times. However, growing up brings a lot of changes._

_Rein remained as the timid, intelligent boy that he is while Eren became some sort of troublemaker. Always getting into fights, always having to spend time in detentions. It always made his twin and Levi worry but it's not like they can do anything to change him. Levi's still the cold and stoic child he is, but his intelligence is unrivaled._

_What didn't change is the bond of friendship between the twins and the raven haired teen, making many wonder how they got along considering how different they are. They always shrugged it off since for them, they're still the little kids who met and played at the park._

_The feeling of friendship grew into something stronger, a feeling of love. Levi first felt this for the turquoise-eyed brunet, admiring the passion of the young teen. Rein is the one who made the first move to the raven haired teen, eventually leading to the reciprocation of feelings._

_One event ended what hadn't even began. The Yeager family needs to move to Germany, forcing the twins to left Levi behind._

_"Do... do the both of you really need to leave?" He looked up to look at the twins, a pained and sad expression settled on their faces. Levi's voice was full of desperation and sorrow, making it harder for the twins._

_"We're sorry, Levi. We didn't want to but we were forced. We were too young to be left here." Rein's voice mirrored the same sadness his face is showing, his eyes became glossy from the tears he's holding back._

_"Levi, we don't want to leave you. Dad's work required him to stay there so he's bringing us there with him." Eren's voice sounded just the same as them, if not, even sorrowful. Making the first move, he pulled Levi to his chest, letting the raven wet his shirt with tears. Rein joined in and the three of them was encased in a hug, not wanting to let go._

_"Eren, Rein. It's time to go." Their mother's voice called them, making Levi hold onto the twins' shirt. The twins moved a little and removed Levi's hand from their shirt, holding it and squeezing it gently._

_"We'll come back. We promise."_

_When Eren started to walk away, Rein hugged Levi again and kissed his forehead._

_"Eren's right, we'll see you again. I love you, Levi."_

_He left Levi without another word, and that's the last time the raven-haired teen saw the twins._

*****

"Hey, Levi, you're spacing out again."

I was pulled out of my reverie when Hanji's voice called me. I glared at them before I continued working on my assignment but Hanji isn't going to accept any of it. They placed their pen down and propped their elbow on the table, resting their chin on it and staring at me intently.

"You're thinking about them again, right?"

Looking up from my notes, I glared at them once again, meeting their gaze before answering, "No."

The look on their face became serious, clearly knowing that I'm just lying to fucking get away from the topic again, just like what I always do every single damn time.

"You can't fool me, Levi. I may have only known you for three years, but I can tell if you're lying or not."

I don't know if I should be glad that I told them about Eren and Rein. It's been five years since I last saw and heard of them and the hope of seeing them again became more bleaker as each day passed by. I sighed and slumped on my seat, both of my hands resting on the table curled into fists.

"Today's the fifth year that they left. I haven't heard any news from them since then. I'm just so fucking mad at myself for not being able to let go of their goddamn promise even though I know that it's hopeless."

"Levi, don't say that. Maybe they'll just come back one day for all you know. Just don't lose hope and besides, from what you told me, they seemed like a person who didn't break their promise."

As Hanji said those words, some of my memories with the two of them flashed inside my mind. They hate it when they're breaking their promise. Maybe I just need to wait for a little longer but, how long? Five years are so fucking long and I don't think that I can wait for much longer.

I just sighed and packed my things inside my bag before I stood up and swung my bag over my shoulder. "Hey, Hanji. Wanna go to the mall?"

"Hell yeah."

Just like what I offered, we went to the mall and strolled around the place. Hanji pulled me into different stores and bought some useless stuffs and I bought some shirts due to boredom. After we finished shopping, we went to a fast food next, ordering ourselves burgers, fries, and cola.

As soon as we finished eating, I decided to go home. Hanji and I separated ways considering we live in a different neighborhood. Deciding that I need to take a walk to clear my mind up, I started making my way back to my apartment in which I live in all by myself, music coming from the headphones I'm wearing.

On my way back, I saw the park where I used to play with Eren and Rein when we were still kids. My body acted on its own when it started to walk towards the park, my mind started to repeat my memories with the twins like it's some kind of movie.

I sighed as I sat on the exact place where they approached me ten years ago. There's no one in the park except me right now, considering how children nowadays prefer to use their gadgets than play in places such as parks. I can't help but chuckle when I looked down at my legs, remembering it's incapability to reach the ground and make the swing move when I was younger.

As I continued to soak in the silence, I heard footsteps coming from behind me and not even a minute had passed when someone jerked the swing I'm sitting on.

Anger rushed all over me when I recovered from the shock I felt. I stood up and turned around to look at whoever fucktard it is who decided to fuck with me.

"What the fuck do you think you're-"

I was cut off when I saw who it is and my eyes widen at the sight of a guy with a messy mop of chocolate brown hair with amber colored eyes. He's showing me that bright, wide smile that I knew all too well and I certainly believed that I'm just dreaming.

It's impossible, my sick mind is just making me see things that isn't here. I just missed them too fucking much that my mind is creating images of him. My mind went blank and the only word that slipped out of my mouth is his name.

"...Rein?"


	2. He Came Back

This is just simply fucking impossible. My mind is just too fucking worked up it's already getting to me. But all of those thoughts were proven wrong when he spoke, the look on his face softening, his eyes full of happiness and longing.

"Hey, Levi. Are you just going to stand there? Where's my long awaited hug?"

I didn't move. I couldn't move. My body felt like it was paralyzed, leaving me standing there like a fucking statue and looking at him with wide eyes. Is he really here? Rein, really in front of me?

"Ok, I'll be the one to hug you instead then." He walked over to me and the moment I felt his warmth enveloped me, I closed my eyes and sighed, my hands wrapping around him.

This is true. He's back. This isn't just some sick ass imagination. This is real, he's with me now and that realization made me breathe a breath of relief.

"Rein... you did come back, you brat."

His arms tighten around me and he nuzzled his nose at the top of my head. "Of course, Levi. I promised, right?"

He pulled away and gave us a little distance, smiling his adorably dorky smile once again. I couldn't stop the way my lips lifted into a smile. I really missed him.

"You're still as bratty as ever, Rein."

"Talk about how you're still as short as ever, Levi."

I punched him in his arm and he winced at the pain I brought and he started rubbing the part I punched to sooth it.

"Really, Levi? That's what you're giving me after not meeting for five years?"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, it's not my fucking fault that neither of you contacted me." Guilt took over his features and he looked down to his feet. Shit, what the fuck are you saying, Levi? It's not like they wanted to fucking do that. Guilt also rolled over me and I looked down to the ground, forcing my mind to form any sort of apology.

"Sorry."

My head snapped back to look at him, still looking at the ground. He slowly looked up and meet my eyes, loneliness still pooling inside his although hidden at the very back. I shook my head and sighed. This brat's just too kind for his own good.

"No, Rein. I'm the one who's being the insensitive prick here."

It seemed to do the trick since the brat perked up like a dog would do when it sees a bone. I suppressed the smile that's threatening to show and took a step back to sit at the swing once again. He also did the same, sitting where he did before but with his legs at the both sides of the swing, looking at me with a warm smile on his face.

"What the fuck are you smiling for?"

"It just feels good to be back."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, using my feet to swing back and forth. Feeling his gaze burning holes through me, I looked at him once again, a frown on my face. He is staring at me before his gaze traveled downwards towards the ground beneath my feet.

"Oi, Rein. Can you fucking stop staring?"

"Oh," he looked up to meet my eyes in confusion before it went back to normal. "I just remembered how we met you. You can't make the swing move because your legs are too short to reach the ground." He started to laugh, throwing his head back and tears started to pool in his eyes. "I can still remember what you looked like when you told us that you can't move it."

"Oi, are you making fun of me?"

"N-no." He started to suppress his laugh, his shoulders moving as he did. Wiping the tears in his eyes, taking deep breaths to catch his breath before looking at me. "I just can't believe that many years had passed since then."

"You're right." Silence started to take over us but we let it. The silence is comfortable, the presence of one another is enough to provide entertainment.

While I was enjoying the silence, another thought came to my mind. Why is he here? Did his family moved back here? Where is Eren?

"Rein." He looked at me when I called his name, giving me a "What?" look, raising both of his eyebrows. Using it as a signal to continue, I started. "If you're here, does that mean that Eren and your parents are here too?"

My question seemed to make him uncomfortable since he looked down and started to move uncomfortably. It took some seconds before he answered, still not meeting my gaze.

"No, they're not. I was sent here to study while Eren stayed there. I'm the only one who went back here."

Noticing how uncomfortable he is, I just nodded and hummed despite the fact that he's acting a little weird. He didn't speak for a while, still looking at the ground, his expression sometimes changing into a look of doubt and insecurity. The sight made me frown in confusion but I decided not to ask him about it. If he want to tell me about it, he would.

Standing up from the swing, I looked at him and called his name. "Oi, Rein." When he looked up at me, I cocked my head towards the direction of my apartment. "Let's go to my apartment."

Nodding, he stood up and went beside me before we started walking side by side. It didn't take long until we arrived and I lead him inside.

My place isn't that big considering that I'm the only one who lives here. It has a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, bathroom in the first floor, and two rooms upstairs which also have its own bathroom, one that I use and the other is a guest room.

Rein sat on the couch and placed his bag at the side of the couch as I went to the kitchen to make some tea, making two cups for the both of us. When I finished preparing I brought it to the living room, setting one of it in front of Rein before I made myself comfortable on the other side of the couch.

"I don't have anything to offer except that. It's not like I fucking know that I'll see you." He nodded and carefully handled the cup, blowing it to ease some of it's hotness before taking a sip. While doing so he looked around, probably noticing the lack of almost everything. I'm not surprised, my apartment isn't one of those which have a homey feeling in it. Mine lacks decorations, the colors are either black, white or grey, and the lack of presence make it look like there's no one living in here. He placed the cup on top of the coffee table and shifted himself to look at me.

"You're the only one who lives here?"

"Yes, unless you can see something that I can't, in which, I highly doubt." I placed my cup on the coffee table and set my whole attention to him, raising my legs and resting it on the couch. I nudged his side using my foot and he looked at me. "How long have you been in here?"

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes before looking back to me. "I've been here for a week."

"You've been here a week and you didn't even bother to tell me?" Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a serious look. I saw him gulp and scratched his nape, a mannerism of the two of them whenever they get nervous or anxious. He looked at me and I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, first of all, I have no idea about where you live now and second, I need to settle all of my stuffs and myself, you know." He gave me a lopsided smile, moving a little to the left and taking my ankles, resting my feet on his lap. "Your feet are so small."

"It would be much fucking weird if I have feet with the size of Big Foot's now, do we?" He chuckled at my response and started to drink his tea again. I bet it's starting to go cold now. "What are you doing at the park earlier?"

"My guts told me to go there since it's been so long so I went. And I'm glad that I did since I saw you there."

"Same here."

Awkward silence filled the air. I don't know why but he seemed to be distracted by something that I don't have any clue about. Using my foot that's currently resting on his thigh, I gently kicked him on his side. An "oof" came out of his mouth before he looked at me pointedly, his hand resting on his side.

"What is that for?"

"For acting like someone had just shit on your face. What's getting you so worked up, kid?"

"Don't call me "kid", Levi. You're just a few months older than me."

"You're acting like one."

He rolled his eyes and shifted himself on the couch, our legs now entwined with each other. I sipped at my drink, staring right back at him when he silently declared a fucking staring contest.

"Have you been in a relationship in the past five years we're gone, Levi?"

His sudden question made me choke on my drink. Where the hell did that fucking question came from? As soon as I recovered from choking, I glared at him while he has an uncertain smile on his face.

"Why the fuck are you asking me that?"

His face started to get red and his eyes started darting around in all directions. I rolled my eyes and let a small smile paint my lips.

"No."

Looking at me with wide eyes, he moved his gaze up and down my body before giving me an incredulous look. "You're fucking kidding me."

"You fucking asked me and now that I gave you a damn answer you're not believing me?"

He shook his head slightly, the skeptical look on his face still there. "I mean—damn, Levi. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?"

"Well, your bestfriend is just one choosy bastard."

"I am not surprised. But, have you been at least attracted to someone?"

"No, I hate people." I watched him chuckle and muttered something under his breath. "How about you?"

"Well..." I raised an eyebrow at him as I wait for his answer. "I had one but we broke up after a few months..."

"Oh?" What he said caught my interest. So he has been in a relationship before, huh? "Who is it? Why did the both of you broke up?"

He cast his gaze downwards as another wave of silence took over us. He looked like he's in deep thought and I watched in amusement how his facial expression changed in the most subtle ways. Apparently, he remembered something so fucking unpleasant that his whole body shivered.

"Let's not talk about it. Let's just say that she cheated on me."

So it's a girl.

"Did Eren had any? I bet that that guy's a fucking playboy."

"It's actually the opposite." It's my turn to give him an incredulous look. Eren's quite popular among both boys and girls even before they left. "He's never been in a relationship before. He had flings but nothing serious. He told me that he's waiting for someone."

Eren? Waiting for someone? The thought of that troublemaker being such a sappy little shit never crossed my mind. "That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

"I know right? Whoever that someone is got him deep."

We both laughed and I swung my feet from his lap to the floor, grabbing both of the cups and going to the kitchen to clean it. I went back to the living room and saw him doing something on his phone, before he looked at me with an apologetic look on his eyes.

"Sorry Levi but I have to leave. Armin texted me and told me that we need to buy something for the apartment. I'll introduce you to him next time." He stood up and took his bag before he walked over to me, hugging me tightly before letting go.

"I'll visit you tomorrow."

"Take care, brat."

"I will."

Watching him leave, I can't help the happiness I felt when everything that happened today sink in. Noticing a small paper laying on top of the table, I walked closer and took it, smirking when I saw what's written on it.

_'Hey, Levi. Good to see you again. I really missed you and sorry for leaving early. I'll make it up to you. Here's my number:_

_xxx-xxx-xxxx_

_P.S. You're still as good looking as ever._

_-Rein ;)'_

That flirty brat.


	3. Moment Ruined

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping that you're enjoying this. Please leave a vote or comment. It will be deeply appreciated.
> 
> Enjoy!

The next day, I woke up to the smell of pancakes and tea. Wanting to know where the smell came from, I opened my eyes and sat up, rubbing my eyes to remove my sleepiness before looking around. Confusion took over my groggy mind when I saw two plates filled with fluffy and delicious smelling pancakes and two cups on my study table.

Who the fuck did that?

My question was answered when the door of my room opened, a guy with a shaggy chocolate brown hair and amber eyes entered. A smile blossomed on his face when he saw me, lighting up my dark and cold room.

"Good morning, Levi."

"Good morning." I stretched and yawned, my yawn stopping midway when I realized that he's in my room. How the hell did he got here inside my fucking room?

"Oi, Rein."

He stopped doing whatever the fuck he's doing on my study table to look at me.

"What?"

"Don't you "what" me, brat. How the fuck did you get in? As far as I can fucking remember, I locked the goddamn door last night."

He chuckled and gave me an unsure smile, looking everywhere but me. "I may or may not use a hair pin to unlock your door."

"You what?" I looked at him with wide eyes in surprise before slowly narrowing my eyes at him. "You entered my fucking house using a damn hair pin?"

He visibly swallowed, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I may or may not."

I rolled my eyes in amusement, getting off of my bed and walking towards him. His body became tense when I raised my hand and he threw both of his hands up in defense.

"Sorry, Levi! I'm not going to do it again! Please don't hit me!"

"Who said that I'm going to hit you?" My voice came out sounding amused, making him relax and set both of his hand down. I tiptoed to reach his head—this brat is so fucking tall I don't know how he did that—and ruffled his hair. "You're as childish as Eren before. What did he fucking do to you?"

He laughed and rolled his eyes, bumping me in the shoulder lightly. His laugh is something I missed the most, loud and carefree, making the butterflies in my stomach which was dead before flutter crazily inside. "Shut up and let's just eat."

He gave me a plate of pancakes, the one which is only topped with a bit of butter while he took the one which is overflowing with syrup. I grimaced, thinking of how Rein's going to eat something that's that sweet and sticky. I heard him chuckled so I looked up from his plate to see his face, seeing him with an amused look on his face before he replaced it with an offended look when he saw me staring.

"Don't look at my pancakes like that, Levi. Syrup is like, ambrosia for normal people."

"I fucking doubt that. If syrup is like ambrosia, the gods and goddesses should have fucking diabetes."

Responding with another laugh, we both sat on the couch that I have in my room with the plates on our laps. He also took took the tray which held our cups, mine is tea while his is coffee, and we soaked in a comfortable silence as we eat.

"This is good."

He looked at me with a wide and proud grin, showing off his perfect white and straight teeth. "Thanks. Mom taught me how to cook."

"Carla? Then it isn't surprising." We continued to eat and engaged ourselves in idle chats, asking things about what happened in the past years. From what I heard, he is still as intelligent as before, having himself a girlfriend who cheated on him and other stuffs. Eren is still the troublemaker that he is but he also excel in school despite the fights that he's been in.

With our chat, I could notice him avoiding questions about Eren. I don't know why but I knew better than to meddle with a sibling, or in this case twin, misunderstanding or whatever fuck's going on.

Since it's already Saturday, Rein asked me if he could stay with me for the whole day, saying that he wanted to spend time with me. I gave him my permission without any second guessing, the longing I felt for the twin making me agree without a second thought. The smile that appeared on his face when I said yes was so big and bright I thought that I'd never going to be able to see again.

After we finished eating, Rein took both of our plates and cups, telling me that he'll clean it up. As soon as he went out, I took some clothes out of the closet and headed to the bathroom, voiding myself of any clothes before standing under the shower head.

After twenty minutes of cleaning, I got dressed in a black sweatpants and a gray tank top before I left the bathroom and headed to the living room where Rein might be waiting. Looks like I'm right since I saw him standing in front of the flat screen TV in the living room.

"What are you doing?" He flinched when he heard me, his head turning to look at me.

With a frown adorning his good looking face, he grumbled like a child. " You didn't say you're there. You startled me."

"That's the point, you idiot. Next time I'm going to fucking warn you."

"Hey, that's mean."

"Do I look like I care? No? Good. Because I don't. Now answer my question."

He continued to do what he's doing earlier and after a few seconds, a movie started playing. I sat on the couch which is placed a few meters away from the TV, watching him pause the film and went to the kitchen. It didn't take long until he went back with two bowls full of popcorn.

He gave one to me before he sat beside me, playing the movie and watched in concentration.

The movie is entitled "Deadpool", named after the main character who is wearing a tight red and black spandex who likes to shoot someone at their balls when they're wearing brown pants. It's an action movie which is filled with lame ass jokes and profanities, not failing to make Rein laugh throughout the whole movie.

Although at some point I didn't notice him inching closer and closer to me. I only noticed it when he's just an inch beside me, the warmth radiating off of him hitting me.

"Oi, little shit what are you—" A knock interrupted me and I scowled, making Rein chuckle. I'm about to stand up when he held my shoulder, telling me that he'll answer the door. Watching him walk to the door, I can't help but notice his broad shoulders and muscled back through his thin white shirt. Fuck, how did that little shit became like that? I wonder what Eren looks like now.

The moment he held the door open, a loud voice resonated throughout the room.

"Levi, my little... Wait, who are you? Are you Shorty's boyfriend? Damn that midget not telling me that he already have a boyfriend and is a hottie!"

I quickly stood up and ran to the door, embarrassment and anger filled me up. I pushed Rein aside and glared at Shitty Glasses. I also saw Erwin and Petra behind them, making me scowl. "Levi! You didn't tell me that you have a boy—"

"I didn't fucking tell you because I don't have one, you crazy shit-tard."

I saw Petra making her way closer, pushing Hanji aside gently before smiling at us. I noticed some change in it though when she looked at Rein. "Sorry, Levi. We didn't know you have a visitor."

"He's not just a visitor, Petra. He's the midget's boyfriend."

"How many fucking times do I have to tell you that he's—"

"Okay, okay." Rein cuts our argument off, raising both of his hands in the air just like what he did earlier. "Hold up, guys. We have plenty of time, no need to be in a rush."

I sighed in irritation, getting more annoyed every second. This is supposed to be my time to be with Rein in peace, but these three decided that it would be best to go and fucking visit me without any warning. It would've been fucking okay if they came anytime, except this day.

"What the fuck do you guys want?" Petra opened her mouth to speak but Hanji was faster.

"We came to visit and spend some time with you but it seems like you already have some company. A hot company. Hooo, it's getting hot in here." They fanned themselves with their hand for additional effect. My eyes narrowed at them but I heard Rein chuckled.

"It's okay, I would like to meet Levi's friends." I gave him a sharp look in which he returned with a smile, pulling me with him when he stepped aside to give way to the three. When they already settled on the couches, I turned to Rein and tugged him down using his forearm.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, inviting your friends in?"

"Do you know what you put yourself in to with Shitty Glasses here?" And this is supposed to be our alone time together, you little shit.

"No, but I will soon."

Without waiting for a response, he pulled me with him towards the others. We sat on our places earlier and stayed an inch away from me.

"You guys are so cute together." Hanji had a dreamy look on their face. Shit, I know that look. They look like that when— "I ship it." —...they're shipping someone.

I shoot them a death glare and Rein let out a surprised "Oh". I looked at him and saw a very faint pink dusting his cheeks. Wait, is he blushing? He looked at me and caught me looking, smiling at me before nudging me.

"Hey, stop it. Even though I'm totally okay with it, we wouldn't want the both of you to be surrounded by ants because of your sweetness, do we?"

I felt heat crept up my cheeks and I once again glared at them. "Shut the fuck up or I'll fucking punch all of your goddamn teeth out of you."

Ignoring my threat, Hanji looked at Rein in awe. "What's the name of Shorty's boyfriend?"

"I fucking told you that he's not my boyfriend."

"My name's Rein Yeager, nice to meet you." He chuckled after introducing himself, not minding being called my boyfriend. This little shit.

"I'm Hanji Zoe. That big blonde guy there is Erwin Smith and the girl over there is Petra Ral." Rein nodded as they introduced them, Hanji looking like they're in deep thinking as they stare at the floor.

"Rein. Yeager. Rein Yeager. Hmm, where did I first hear that— wait!" Hanji looked at Eren, a wide grin on their face, looking like they just cracked the Da Vinci code. "You're Rein! One half of Levi's twin bestfriend!"

Rein looked surprised for a moment before the look on his face slowly changed into a soft one. "Yes, I am."

Hanji clapped their hands, squealing in excitement. Erwin and Petra have a lost look on their faces, confused with Hanji's statement.

"Wait, Levi has a twin bestfriend?" Erwin was the first one to ask, followed by Petra. "Why didn't we know that?"

"I'm not fucking obliged to tell you about that and besides, we haven't seen each other for five damn years. Like hell I can be so fucking sure that we'll meet again."

"If you have a twin, where's he?" Erwin, you and your eyebrows are fucking dead to me.

I glared at him and he just shrugged, showing me that he's just curious and not caring about the look I'm giving him.

"I have a twin. He's still in Germany together with my parents."

"His name...?"

"His name is—"

"Eren!"

All of us looked at Hanji. They still have a wide grin on their face, not minding the looks we gave them. "Eren Yeager is his twin's name. They are identical twins!"

"Is that true?" Petra's voice was laced in curiosity. Rein nodded and hummed before answering.

"Yes. We looked a lot like but his eyes are turquoise. It makes it easy for people to recognize us."

Both Erwin and Petra nodded. Hanji continued to ask questions to Rein such as, 'Is it true that if one of the two of you is hurt, the other will also feel it?' and other twin related shits.

"When will Eren go here? I want to meet him! From what I heard in Levi's stories, he seems like an interesting person."

Rein laughed in Hanji's question showing them his award-winning smile. "I don't know but he will, eventually."

"What's your relationship with Levi?"

"I fucking swear, Shitty Glasses I—"

"He's my bestfriend." Rein cut them off and they gave the two of us a skeptical look.

"Really? You look good together."

I rolled my eyes in irritation and I heard Rein chuckled again. How can this brat handle Hanji?

"I ship the both of you!"

"Fucking stop at that shipping shit you got, Hanji. Didn't you paired Erwin with Armin?"

"And they got together because of it." Their voice sounded proud and I can't help but scowl at them.

"Haven't you fucking had enough?"

"Nope, and I'll make sure the both of you will be together." They winked at Rein and I huffed, standing up to leave the room and give myself a break.

I went to the kitchen and drank a glass of water, hearing some footsteps behind me. Looking back, I saw Rein walking towards me and he took a glass for himself.

"How can you handle them? They're a crazy thing."

"Thing?" He laughed and shook his head, clearly amazed. "It's not that hard. I like them."

"I can't fucking believe you. Another thing, why didn't you look bothered when they called you my boyfriend?"

He finished drinking and cleaned it without answering. I patiently waited for his response even though I am not a patient man. Returning to his place in front of me, he started leaning down, our face starting to get closer and closer.

"O-oi, what are you—" I was stopped when he placed his lips just a few centimeters away from mine, his hot breath on my lips doing wonders to my heart. His lips look so attractive, thin upper lip and the bottom is a little thick, the pinkish color making it more and more appetizing.

I was stunned, looking at his lips before moving my gaze to his eyes, his lids drooping by a fraction. He moved his face next to my ears, and I shivered when his breath touched my skin.

"Maybe that's because I like it."


	4. Dammit, Hanji!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's another set of chapter guys. Thank you for the reads and to those of you who left a kudos and bookmarked this, thank you very much. I hope that you guys like it.
> 
> Enjoy.

When Hanji, Erwin, and Petra left, it's already past seven in the evening. Groaning, I laid down on the couch, my mind finally soaking in the silence it got when Shitty Glasses left. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, ready to relax when someone decided to poke my fucking cheek like the shitty brat he is.

"Rein, give me a break, will you?"

Ignoring my demand, he continued to poke my cheek. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I grabbed his finger and opened my eyes to glare at him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, huh?"

"I don't want you to sleep on your couch, you'll hurt your back."

I groaned again and shifted myself to lay on my stomach, burying my face in a cushion. I heard him sigh and felt him stood up but I didn't heard any footsteps. Then suddenly, I felt myself being lifted off of the couch by a pair of strong arms. I let out a surprised grunt before looking at the brat who has a cheeky grin on his face. This bastard.

"What the fucking hell are you doing?"

"I told you, I don't want you to sleep on your couch."

"Fucking put me down this instant."

"No."

I started to squirm my way out of his grasp but he just tighten his grip more. Where the hell did he get all of those strength? He took me to my room and tossed me to my bed and I landed with an oof, earning him a glare from me.

"What?"

"Get down here."

With a suspicious look on his face, he leaned down and I used the opportunity to grab his ear. Twisting it, he let out a yelp and jumped back, one hand cupping the ear I hurt.

"What was that for?"

"For ignoring what I fucking said. You should've put me down, you brat."

"Sorry."

I rolled my eyes and laid on my bed, once again burying my face in the pillows. I felt a blanket covered my tired body and I snuggled into it immediately. Dealing with Shitty Glasses for hours drained the fucking life out of me. Before sleep took over me completely, I felt Rein ran his hands through my hair.

"Good night, Levi."

And I let the darkness take over me.

I woke up two hours after. Looking around, I saw no evidence of other's presence inside my room. I stretched my muscles—I don't know what's with it but it feels good—before I stood up, walking to the door rather groggily. I haven't been having a good amount of sleep for the past few months so I'm surprised that I was able to fall asleep earlier.

Arriving in the kitchen to grab some water, I saw Rein sitting on a stool by the black and white counter top, a bitten apple in hand while the other is busy scrolling down on his phone. Noticing my presence, he looked up from his phone and smiled.

"Hey, Levi. How's your sleep?"

"Good." I took a glass with a yawn. "I haven't had enough sleep for the past months so being able to take some sleep surprised me."

"You shouldn't miss hours of sleep. It's not good for you."

Amused, I rolled my eyes and shook my head, proceeding to quench my thirst. Once I'm finished, I looked at him again and saw a worried look on his face. His eyebrows are furrowed, lips pursed into a thin line and I waved my hand in a dismissive manner. "Don't fret yourself there, brat. It's not like I can fucking do anything about it."

I leaned on the wall a few feet away from him, a glass full of water in hand. He's scrutinizing me, I can feel his gaze leaving trails in its wake on my skin. I started to get self-conscious—I never get conscious about my fucking self—and I cannot help myself to stop what he's doing.

"Stop watching me like a damn hawk, Rein."

"Are you taking pills to help you sleep?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, walking over to the sink to clean my glass. "I do sometimes, but I don't want to rely on pills too much."

Placing the glass on the dryer, I sauntered towards him and sat on the stool beside him. He used the lack of space between us to his advantage and held my face in between two hands, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"Look at the dark circles beneath your eyes, Levi."

"Tch, you don't need to tell me that. I am painfully aware."

Removing his hands from my face, I lifted my hand to his face, flattening out the crease in between his eyebrows. "Stop frowning and worrying, Rein. I'm okay."

"But—"

Shooting him a pointed look, he pursed his lips to keep himself from talking. We stayed silent for quite sometime until Rein broke it.

"Hey, Levi. Do you have anything we can use to entertain ourselves?"

"I have some video games—"

"Do you have TEKKEN?"

"I have the latest one. Are you planning to lose?" Cocking my head to the side, I gave him a smirk, watching how his eyes lighten up because of my challenge. He also smirked back, and I can't help but feel the air rush out of my lungs as I stared at those lips which is now sporting a sexy-looking smirk. This should be fucking illegal.

"Oooh, are you challenging me, Ackerman?"

"Why? Does it sound like anything other than that, Yeager?"

"I'm so gonna kick your ass."

"You got it the other way around. I'm going to kick your ass."

I slowly stood up and he did the same, watching every move the other made before we started running to the living room. Being the tall bastard he is, he outrun me.

"Midget."

I felt my eye twitched with what he said. "What did you just fucking call me?"

He shrugged as he sat on the floor in front of the TV and waited for me to finish preparing the game. I tossed him the controller and he caught it before I took the other and sat beside him.

"Ready to be beaten?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes before giving him a serious look. "I'm going to make you eat dust."

Returning our attention to the TV, we picked our characters and choose the place where we'll fight, my nerves jittery with anticipation. I took a sidelong glance at Rein who's sitting beside me, a look of determination and excitement never leaving his face.

The fight started, and I can say that this brat is doing a great job. I'm having a bit of difficulty beating him, one that I never experienced before. I directed all of my attention to the game and focused on winning, my thumb pressing different buttons to execute different moves.

With one last kick, my character defeated his, the screen showing 'K.O.' as I kept my face impassive despite the feeling of triumph inside me. Looking at him, I saw how his face contorted into one of disbelief, slowly morphing into one of determination as he looked straight at me.

"I underestimated you—"

"You made the wrong choice—"

"But I won't let you win this time."

My eyebrow automatically raised in his response. The determined look on his face didn't fade, and I let my impassive mask crumble to be replaced by an amused one. This guy really is something.

"I'll look forward to it then."

He smirked and looked back to the screen, me doing the same thing. The match once again started, and I noticed how drastically his gameplay changed. We are both furiously pressing our controllers, up to the point where I thought that it will break because of the pressure. I didn't notice it but his character grabbed mine and I watched how my character got knocked out.

"Hah! I win!"

I looked at him and I saw him looking at me with a proud look on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him before muttering, "Oh, you're on."

We continued playing many rounds like that, and I saw how much he brought out the competitive side of me. My blood rushed in my veins because of adrenaline, making me feel each pulse as we fought. We both win and lose and it's already after our eighth round when he raised his hand.

"What?"

"I have an idea."

I let a frown took over my features as confusion with a mix of excitement bubbled inside me. "I have a feeling that it's not a good one."

"It is a good one. Just listen to me first."

I gave him a nod which spurred him to say what's in his mind. "Since we still have a tie, let's make the game more exciting."

"Go straight to the point, Rein."

"Okay, okay. So, whoever wins this next match can make the other do what he wants."

So it's like a dare? What's going on in his mind? Why would he even think of such consequence?

"Anything? If I tell you to run stark naked around the park, you'll do it?"

He cringed at my idea but nodded in the end. "Err, yeah, that is if you win. And if you win, you won't make me do that, right?"

I responded with a shrug, masking my excitement with an impassive look again. "Who knows?"

He looked at his side and muttered something under his breath before returning his gaze to me.

"Is it a deal?"

"Deal."

He nodded and we both returned our attention to the game. I wonder what I will make him do if ever I win. Should I make him do something embarrassingly or something that will bring me convenience?

Our match already started and I pushed the thought aside, my thoughts fixed on winning. The tension was thick in the air, my heart pumping hard as the last round began. Whoever won this part will be the victor, and I won't let him be that one.

Not even a minute had passed when we both have only a few amount of our life left. He made a move without precaution and I was caught off guard, making my character unable to do nothing as his character kicked mine and sent it flying.

"Fuck! Dammit!"

He let out a laugh, so loud that it resonate throughout the whole place and he looked at me with a smug look on his face. I scowled at the sight, wanting to erase that look on that pretty face of his.

"I won, Levi."

"Tch, I know. I'm not blind."

"So..." He tilted his head a bit to the side, staring at me looking like he's in a deep thought. Then he suddenly straighten up, his eyes wide in excitement as he looked straight at me.

"Wait here."

Without waiting for my response, he went off to the direction where the kitchen was, leaving me to question myself what's with his sudden excitement. I bet he's going to make me do some childish things.

My thought was confirmed when he went back, a box of Pocky in hand. He lifted it and waved it, looking at me with a smirk. I sent him a sharp look.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to eat it."

"And what? I'm going to watch you fucking eat that thing?"

"Oh, let me correct myself. We are going to eat it."

Sitting down on the couch, he patted the space beside him and I stood up, albeit reluctantly. I have doubts about what he is planning but since he won, I can't make any excuses to save myself from him.

I sat beside him and he opened the box, tearing the plastic that holding the sticks inside. He offered me and I took one, trapping it between my lips and started to nibble.

He also took one and held it in between his thumb and index finger, also nibbling it. I took it out of my mouth and held it before calling him.

"Oi, Rein."

He looked at me in a questioning way, humming as he did so. "Is this what you wanted me to do? To eat Pocky with you?"

I finished his stick off with large bites before answering me. "No, but I want to do it later." His answer was followed by a smirk, and I need to swallow the lump that formed in my throat at the sight. I have a feeling that I won't like what will happen.

I just averted my gaze away from him, finishing the stick before reaching out for another one.

"When did you bought this? As I can recall, I don't have any Pockys in here."

"Ah, I bought it at the nearest convenience store earlier when you fell asleep."

Nodding as a response, we let silence took over us. I don't know how long we stayed like that, eating Pockys while soaking in the comfortable blanket of silence, but I can't deny the happiness that's warming my chest and spreading throughout me when I took the time to think that I'm spending my time alone with him, one of the persons that I fucking miss the most.

I'm reaching for another Pocky when I felt his hand wrapped around my wrist, making me look at him. I studied him for a moment to look for any hints of what he's thinking but I got nothing. Instead, he made another unexpected move, placing his hand on my waist and pulling me closer to him. I shivered when his large hand settled on my waist, my skin still able to feel his warmth despite the thin cloth that's separating my skin to his. My heart started to pound in my chest, annoying butterflies rumbled around inside my stomach as I stared straight into his eyes.

"What are you doing, Rein?"

"This is my prize, I'm going to do it."

He leaned back to get one stick and pressed it to my lips, making me open my mouth and take it between it. Heat started to rush to my cheeks and ears when he leaned forward, trapping the other side between his before he started nibbling.

I didn't make any move and just stared at him with wide eyes, taken aback by the lack of distance between our faces. I moved my gaze away from his eyes down to his lips, that enticing lips of his.

_I wonder what it taste and feels like._

Closing my eyes, I quickly willed the thought away, my face getting hotter and hotter. Fucking dammit, Levi, get a grip of yourself, will you? I opened my eyes and was met by Rein's stare, his gaze holding meaning behind it.

_Eat it._ That's what it's telling me. That's what he wanted me to do.

Wanting this to get fucking over and done with, I started nibbling my side, a smile gracing Rein's lips as he continued eating his side. I looked down to avoid his gaze, fully aware of the hand that's resting on my waist.

My heart started picking up its pace as the distance between us started to get closer and closer. I'm fucking sure that my panic is being reflected by the look I have on my face by the way he chuckled. I was planning to pull away but his hand was faster, locking my face in front of him.

_Go on, Levi. Kiss him._

Shut the fuck up, mind. You're not helping.

He stared straight into me, his eyes have a questioning look in it. My mind instantly went blank, stripping me off of any ability to make a response.

I can feel his hot breath grazing over my lips and the butterflies in my stomach erupted. I just stared at his eyes before I slowly closed mine, just waiting for our lips to connect, feeling his hands travelled down to my waist. I can feel it, his lips just being less than an inch away from mine—

Until my damn phone decided to fuck this thing up by suddenly ringing. My eyes shot open and I saw Rein's eyes are also wide, not expecting that fucking phone to interrupt the moment. He quickly leaned back, his face flushed as he keep his gaze on the floor. I took my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it, just to see Shitty Glasses' name on the fucking screen.

**Shitty Glasses:** _Hey, Levi. I just want to tell you that I have your notes and thank you for letting us interrupt your time with Rein._

_P.S. Take it slow, you wouldn't want to let us see you limping. ;)_

Dammit, Hanji! It's decided. I'm going to fucking kill them.

Once again, our moment was fucking ruined.


	5. A Note

I can't fucking believe what just happened. Why does Shitty Glasses needs to interrupt us all the time? And why does it feels like they're fucking doing it on purpose?

I almost threw my phone across the room and is on the verge of doing it when I heard Rein spoke.

"I—I uhm..."

Turning my head to look at him, I saw him shifting uncomfortably on the couch, face still red from the event that just got interrupted. I sighed and placed my phone on top of the coffee before slumping on the couch, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples.

"Levi."

"Hmm?"

"Sorry about what happened earlier."

"Don't be."

"You're not mad?"

"No." _I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Hanji._

Our awkward conversation was followed by another set of silence, making me raked my mind to think of any way to get rid of this fucking uncomfortable silence. We never experienced this type of situation before and it's making it hard for me to think of a way. Deciding that it's now or never, I opened my mouth to call him.

"Rein—"

"Levi—"

We looked at each other with wide eyes, staring straight in the eye for God-knows-how-long until Rein started to crack, small laughs bubbling in his throat before slowly becoming a full blown laughter. He's clutching his stomach, head thrown back with tears in his eyes. I just stared at him in confusion, not having any clue on what just happened to him.

_He's going crazy. I'm pretty fucking sure about it._

He raised a hand with his palm facing my direction as he tried to calm himself down. He heaved for breath, occasional laughs coming out. He wiped the tears at the side of his eyes before looking at me with a wide grin.

"We've never been that awkward before."

"Seems like you enjoyed it too fucking much, huh?"

He laughed again and shook his head, letting out a sigh in the end.

"Uhm, Levi...?"

"What?"

"Can I stay the night?"

"Yeah."

I stood up and motioned for him to follow me. I won't allow him to sleep in a hoodie and jeans. Those clothes are fucking uncomfortable to sleep in.

I lead him to my room and I went straight to my closet to look for some clothes that will fit him. This guy is a fucking giant; I don't think that I have many clothes that will fit his tall physique. After searching through my neatly piled clothes, I brought out a white shirt that I guess will fit him along with large sweatpants. I stood up and tossed it to him, Rein catching it just before it made contact to the ground. I went back to checking my closet for a towel for him to use.

"What are these?"

"Clothes. First time seeing it?" Rolling my eyes at the stupid question, I took a grey towel out and threw it at him again. "Go take a bath before you go to bed. You fucking stink."

He frowned and raised the collar of his hoodie to smell himself. I resisted the urge to chuckle at the action, my face remaining impassive when he looked back to me with an offended look.

"Hey, I don't stink."

"You're only saying that because it's your own. Hurry the fuck up and use the bathroom so I can take a shower after you."

Grumbling, he stood up and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I sat down on my bed, picking out a book from the nightstand and started reading, the sound of the water coming from the shower and the sound of the pages make when it is turned are the only sounds to be heard.

Several minutes later, I heard the shower got turned off as I turned another page. Rein's voice rang out inside my room when he called my name and I responded "What?" without looking up from the book in my hand, not bothering to look at his direction.

"Do you have any new underwear?"

My head shot up to look at the bathroom's door, eyes wide at the question. I shouldn't be really surprised—no one would ever bring a fucking pair of extra underwear with them wherever they go.

"Levi?"

I settled the book down on top of the nightstand and went over to my closet, racking through the cleanly piled set of clothes inside. I heard the bathroom door opened and I looked back, Rein was sticking his head out of the bathroom.

"Do you have one? I can go commando if there's none."

"Wait! I have some." The words came out of my mouth fast, my voice sounding a little panicked. There's an edge of teasing and playfulness in his voice but that didn't stop the heat that formed in my face. I hurriedly took the fucking underwear he need that he oh so needed (the underwear that I also need for him to wear so damn much to save my fucking self from temptation), and strode in front of the bathroom's door to pitched it to him, the garment hitting his face which currently have a cheeky grin adorning it. He caught it with his left hand.

"Aww man, I thought that you don't have one, I am wishing that I could go commando."

"Shut the fuck up, Rein. Just put on those goddamn underwear." Quickly, I turned to my heels and walked back to my bed, the heat on my face never leaving. I sat down on the bed and took my book and started reading, my mind being too distracted to be able to gave the words and sentences I read meaning. It didn't take long until Rein came out of the bathroom, drying his hair using the towel while walking over to the couch which was placed adjacent to my bed. Taking a seat, he rested the towel on top of his head and looked at me.

"Levi, are you sure that you don't want me to go commando? I can if you want—"

"Oh my god, shut the fuck up, Rein!"

"Come on, no need to be shy about it."

My face grew hotter at the moment, and I did my best to sent him a glare that looks so deadly it can kill. His eyes widen at the sight and raised both of his hands up like he's in a hold up.

"Okay, okay, jeez. Don't be so grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy, you little shit." _  
_

_You're just saying things that are too inappropriate—and tempting._

He took his phone out of the sweatpant's pocket, unlocking it and checking something before locking it and turning his gaze back to me. "It's already one o'clock. We should get some sleep."

Shit, the guest room is not ready for usage. Where the hell will he sleep?

"Rein, the—"

"The guest room's not clean enough for you to let me use it, I know. I'll just sleep here in your couch."

"You told me not to fucking sleep on the couch and now you're telling me that you'll sleep there?" I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "You're impossible."

"It's because I don't want you to hurt your back. Just lend me a pillow and I'll be fine."

I traveled my gaze from his face down to his feet before looking at the couch he's going to sleep at. The couch's too fucking small to occupy his giant of a body. I'll just ask him to sleep beside me. There's nothing damn wrong with it, right?

"Sleep with me."

A shocked look crossed over his features and his jaw dropped, staring at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, his cheeks dusted pink. Frowning, I started to wonder what caused him to give that kind of reaction until I thought of what I said. Shit, it sounded wrong.

"Wait, no, fuck—" Heat once again settled on my face and I can guarantee that I'm blushing as hard as he is. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is you should share the bed with me instead of you trying to fit in that couch."

"No, Levi. It's okay."

"If you're worrying about other things, I'll assure you now. We're not going to fuck."

"Levi!" The blushed on his face intensified and I can't help but chuckle. It's my fucking payback for his teasing earlier.

"What? First time hearing the word _fuck_?"

I don't know what happened but his looked and mood suddenly changed from being abashed to a serious, seductive one faster than a blink of an eye. His lips curled into a sultry smirk, making my blood run faster and hotter in my veins and I gulped down the words that I was about to say.

"Actually, no. I'm about to ask you if you want to." His voice sounded so low and suggestive and I felt my body shiver. What the hell is wrong with me? I shouldn't be affected by his teasing but I can't stop how his words went straight to my nether regions. It's getting fucking hot in here and the sight of him looking at me with those eyes didn't help me. Nope, not even a little.

"Fuck you."

"I think that it'll be other way around." My hand automatically flew to grab one of the pillows and sent it flying to him. The pillow hit him once again in his face and I heard his laugh, so light and carefree, resonate inside the silent room of mine.

"Shut up, Rein."

A louder laugh came from him once again and I stood up, sauntering to my closet to get some clothes before I went to the bathroom. I just took a quick shower but I made sure that I am clean. When I got out, Rein is still sitting on the couch. I raised an eyebrow at him when our eyes met.

"Go to bed already, brat."

"I'll wait for you."

"You're such a brat."

"No, I'm not."

Rolling my eyes, I dried my hair with the towel before I hung it, proceeding to brush my hair before I went to bed and laid down. He turned off the lights and followed me minutes later, the other part of the bed sunk when he laid down. Silence filled the air as I stared at the blackness that's covering the whole place, our breathing the only sound to be heard.

"Levi." I felt him shifted himself on the bed, and a faint light that's illuminating from his phone gave me the ability to look at his face. I shifted to my side so we can face each other which made him smile.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just want to say your name."

The corner of my lips twitched at what he said, and it didn't take long until it fully turned to a smile. A familiar warmth spread throughout me and I lifted my right hand to ruffle his hair.

"Go to sleep, Rein."

"You should too."

"Yeah, yeah, I will."

"Good night, Levi. or should I say, good morning."  We both chuckled and he locked his phone, letting the darkness consume us again. His breathing calmed me down, his presence is enough for me to have my mind clear of any thoughts that usually made me unable to sleep at night and the warmth coming off of his body sent me into comfort.

"Sweet dreams, Rein."

*****

"Come on, Levi! Talk to me!" Hanji kept on pestering me but I kept on being stubborn. I haven't uttered a single word to them and school already ended which made them worried. I'm still annoyed at them for interrupting us last Saturday night.

"Levi, please, I'm going crazy already!"

_You're already crazy, Shitty Glasses._

"Levi."

"Come on, don't ignore me."

"Can't you hear me?"

"I won't stop until you talk to me."

"Levi, my hot shorty, come on talk—"

"Shut the fuck up, Shitty Glasses." I let out a sigh in irritation and sent them a glare. They also sighed, but this one is a breath of relief.

"You know, I'm glad that you finally talked to me but I'm hoping that you would say other things than—" They cut their rumbling off when they saw the look I gave them. We continued walking in silence, but looks like Hanji couldn't keep their mouth shut for long.

"Are you mad at me? Did something happen?"

_Something didn't happen because of your fucking interruption._

"Nothing. Now shut up."

As we make our way out of the school, I saw a very familiar figure not too far away. It instantly made me want to smile but I fought it. I watched him as he looked around, eventually meeting my gaze. He started making his way towards me, and I felt Hanji nudged my side with their elbow.

"Looks like Shorty's boyfriend is here to see him." Looking up at my side, I saw them grinning and wiggled their eyebrows at me suggestively. Hearing Rein called me, I sent them a messed-this-up-and-you're-fucking-dead look before I turned my gaze back to Rein.

"Why are you here?"

He made a face, looking at me in false sadness. "You didn't want to see me?"

I opened my mouth to speak when Hanji suddenly cut in. "Rein! Are you here to get your boyfriend?"

"Hanji! I already fucking told you that he's not my boyfriend!" I shoot them a glare, mentally killing them already. Heat was already pooling in my cheeks and I'm sure that I'm blushing. Shit, this maniac really want to embarrass me.

They gave us a skeptical look, before slowly changing into a knowing look. "It doesn't look like that to me." They grinned, wiggling their eyebrows at us in the same time.

"Shut up."

"So..." We both look at Rein who has an unsure look on his face. He cleared his throat before looking at Hanji first. "Hi, Hanji."

They wave at them enthusiastically which made him chuckle before he looked at me. "I went here to see you—"

"Awww—"

"Hanji."

"Okay, I went here to see you and I want to give you this." He gave me a paper bag in which I eyed first before I took it. He grinned widely at me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Oi, Rein. Are you planning to kill me?" He laughed and I felt the vibrations it caused on my cheek since my face is pressed on his chest. He let me go and I scowled at him, earning me an apologetic look.

"Sorry. Anyways, I have to go. Levi, look at that paper bag's content once you got home. Hanji, thanks for being with him. He can be a handful sometimes, you know, he's always mad."

"What the hell—"

"No, it's okay, I'm used to it already."

He smiled again and looked at me. "I'll leave now."

He started to walk away, Hanji and I watching his figure disappear in a sea of people. Once he's out of sight, I sighed, thinking of what's inside of the bag he gave me. Hanji nudged me again which caused me to look at them.

"What do you think is in there?"

"I don't know. I still haven't opened it, in case you couldn't see." I rolled my eyes, starting to walk away from the crazy thing. They followed me and we walked in silence, Hanji occasionally saying things that I didn't give any shit about.

After a few minutes of walking, I arrived in my apartment, taking my shoes off before I went to the living room and sat on the couch. Without wasting another minute, I opened the paper bag to see two scarfs one black and one a deep blue, the exact scarfs that I let the both of them borrow before when we were kids. I took it out of the box and examined it, seeing the condition is still good, the lack of use evident on it. I let a small smile paint my lips, the memories of the three of us playing together in the snow as kids playing in my memory.

Returning the scarfs in the paper bag, I saw a note inside it. I took it again and opened it, immediately recognizing Rein's messy handwriting.

_Hey, Levi. Remember these scarfs that we borrowed before? We haven't been able to return it so now here it is. It's already washed, don't worry._

_Remember the prize that I was supposed to get from my winning last Saturday? I'm planning  to get it this next Saturday._

_Let's go on a date. That's my prize. Text me if you read this._

_—Rein_ ;)

_P.S. You can't say no. :P_

I was left staring at the note for who-knows-how-long. Date? He wants me to date him? Is this a fucking joke?

I took my phone from my pants' pocket, going straight to my messages and picking out Rein's contact.

_**To: Rein** _

_**13:45** _

_You should've just asked me personally. That's it, then. You got yourself a date, fucking brat._

I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but I'm sure that I wouldn't fucking regret it.


	6. A Day Together

It's already Saturday, the days passed by quick, looking unimportant compared to this day.

Standing in front of the mirror, I looked back at my reflection. I only got a wink of sleep last night (fuck you too, insomnia) so the bags under my eyes are as bigger and darker as fucking ever. I let out a sigh and just ignored it. It's not like it'll be gone if I keep on stressing about it.

I'm going out with Rein and he told me to wear casual and comfortable clothes. I doubt that we'll be going to some fucking fancy shit restaurants and I'm glad about that (I'm too tired to deal with fancy shits), but I don't have any idea where we're going and Rein can be a random little shit at times. I dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans, wearing my black Vans later on. Hearing my phone rang from its place on top of my nightstand, I made my way across my room and checked who it is.

**From:** **Hanji**

**15** **:51**

_Hey, Shorty! You're going on a date with your "bestfriend", right? Pffft, best friend. Okay, I won't bother you but you have to tell me what happened!_

I rolled my eyes before typing my reply for them aggressively, as if each type will leave a punch on them. I just fucking wish that it can, it would save me from trouble and pestering.

**To:** **Hanji**

**15** **:53**

_Fuck off, Shitty Glasses, I don't want you to fucking spoil this day for me._

_You already spoiled many events and that's fucking enough._

Tapping send, I tossed my phone to my bed and went back to where I stood earlier and comb my hair. Just as I finished, the doorbell rang, relying me the message that someone finally came. Taking one last look in the mirror, I took my phone and went down, putting my shoes on before I opened the door.

The moment I opened the door, I was met by the sight of a shaggy amber-eyed brunet standing on my doorway, sporting a crooked smile on his damn lips that should've been illegal. He's wearing a plain white v-neck shirt, the thin cloth providing something for the imagination of the one who sees. The skinny jeans he wore looks perfectly good and hugs him in all the right places. All the right fucking places, just close enough to make my mouth water.

"Uhm, hi, Levi."

I didn't realize that I'm staring at him for too long until he called my name. Fuck it, Levi, get a hold of yourself will you? You're making a fool out of yourself.

"You ready?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's get going now."

He gave me a nod and I locked the door, following him to his car. After buckling our belts, he started driving, taking me to wherever he planned to.

"Where are you going to take me?"

"I'm going to take you to an amusement park."

I looked at him with a glare. "Amusement park?" He hummed in response, his gaze fixed on the road as he overtake some of the vehicles in front of us. "Don't you know how fucking germ infested that place is?"

I saw him roll his eyes but he has an amused look on his face."Can you let it pass today? I just thought that you need to take a break from stress and this is one way to do that." He broke his gaze away from the road to look at me, his bottom lip stuck out a bit forming a little pout and a pleading look on his face. "Please? You can use alcohol after every ride."

Damn it, how could I say no to that? Declining it would make me feel like a kick a goddamn puppy. Sighing, I flicked his nose, his hand unlatching itself from the steering wheel to hold it. "Tch, do whatever you want, brat."

Glad with my answer, he grinned widely at me before returning all of his attention to the road. Staring outside the window, I watched the building and people as we passed by, blurred into a mess of colors. None of us bothered to talk, making me feel like we're in a bubble that's void of any sounds. It's nothing short of comfortable so I don't really mind.

I shifted on my seat, leaning against the door to stare at him. I took the time to carefully study him, the scrawny brat that I knew before was totally replaced by this hot brunet driving the both of us to an amusement park. His shaggy hair reaches below his jaw and almost touch his shoulder, his jawline very defined. His body is lean with muscles, not too buff which suits my liking.

_Who the fuck cares about your liking, Levi?_

Shut up.

I rolled my eyes. Why am I talking to myself?

Rein's humming broke the silence, creating random sounds, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel. It also snapped me out of my reverie, making me notice how long I've been staring at him. I quickly looked away, although I have a feeling that he knew that I was ogling at him like a hawk to its prey.

When the amusement park came into sight, I can literally feel Rein's excitement flowing out of him. He drove to the parking lot and parked his car, turning the engine off before quickly unbuckling his seatbelt and got off. I snorted in amusement. He's still such a child.

I unbuckled the seatbelt and was opening the door when he did it for me. I got out and looked at him blankly and he shrugged before he closed the door. We started walking to the front gates where we'll buy our tickets when he grabbed my hand. The gesture sent volts of electricity to me and caught me off guard, my hand moving away from his in reaction.

We halted and I looked down at my hand. What the hell happened there?

"Levi?"

My head shot up to look at him after I heard him, his voice dripping with reluctance. He looked at me straight in the eye before he lowered his gaze.

"Sorry for suddenly holding your hand. i don't want you to be uncomfortable-"

"It's okay." The words poured out of my mouth fast, my intent of letting him know that he didn't make me any less comfortable got the best of me. "I was just caught off guard."

He looked up and said, "Are you sure?" The crease in between his eyebrows evidently showing his uncertainty.

Sighing, I let a small smile grace my lips, lifting my hand to smooth out the crease between his eyebrows. He relaxed with that and finally smiled at me, the sight suddenly made my heart pound harder in my chest.

"Let's go in? I really wanted to ride the rides now."

I nodded and we continued making our way to the entrance side by side. A feeling akin to disappointment settled in my chest when he didn't hold my hand but I quickly ignored it. Seconds later, I felt his hand brush against mine so I looked down, noticing how his hand reluctantly reach for mine only to stop before it meets.

I made the final move. I caught his hand in mine and intertwined it, catching him off guard this time. His head snapped to look at me and I met his gaze, traces of surprise swimming in his irises.

"Don't act so skittish, brat, I'm not going to run away."

He let out a sigh and nodded, squeezing my hand gently. I returned the gesture, loving the feeling of his warm, soft hand in mine. The warmth somehow traveled from my arm up to my chest, eventually spreading it throughout me. I can feel the tingling sensation up to the tips of my fingertips.

What the fuck are you doing to me, Rein?

I've been so deep in my thoughts that I haven't noticed it when we reached the both where the we'll buy the tickets. I also didn't notice that I've been looking at our hands the whole time and when I looked up, I saw that the cashier in the booth is going out of her fucking way to show the almost nonexistent cleavage she has to Rein. Rein on the other hand is not noticing it. Maybe he does, but he's just ignoring it.

Maybe it's the first one. Rein is an oblivious little shit anyways.

I glared at the girl in front of me, my eye twitching as she batted her eyelashes when Rein looked at her. I didn't notice how tight my grip is on Rein's hand until he poked my cheek with a cheeky smile on his lips before saying, "I need to use my hand."

I let go of it faster than the speed of light. I fought the fucking heat that's threatening to surface on my cheeks because of embarrassment. Hearing Rein chuckled, I tilted my head to glare at him just to stop before I can even do it when he winked at me.

The little shit winked at me.

The cashier cleared her throat and I swiftly turn my gaze to her and glared. Rein paid for the tickets which the cashier handed him in a longer time than what's needed. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. Is this girl that dumb? I never thought that buying fucking tickets to a damn amusement park is such a tedious task.

Rein returned his wallet to his pocket before he looked back at the cashier again. "Uh, it would be better if you will stop flirting with your customers and cover yourself up if you want to be respected."

The look on her face was epic. She probably didn't expect that. I snorted as we walk away, leaving the cashier with her eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"I didn't expect for you to notice it considering how much of an oblivious shit you are."

Rein rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Well, you should've kept some control over your jealousy."

Heat crept up my cheeks again and I pushed him by his shoulder. "Tch, I'm not jealous."

"Yeah, yeah, say that to yourself, Levi. Another thing," he took my hand and laced our fingers together, "you're cute when you're jealous."

"I'm not- ah, whatever."

*****

Rein is officially a child in a teenager's body. A well-built teenager's body, that is. As soon as we got stamped, he just pulled me in to different rides. Not even an hour had pass and we already finished riding six different rides.

"Hey, hey, calm the fuck down, Rein."

He slowed down his pace and now we're walking in a normal pace. He looked down at me and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Levi. I just got too excited."

"As if I can't see that."

My response caused his smile to grow larger and he lifted his hand to ruffle my hair. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm feeling a little tired. Can we go take a seat and eat something?"

He nodded in approval and took my hand once again, starting to guide me to where the food stalls are placed at. It only took a few minutes of walking until we reached the place and I took a seat on one of the bench, leaving the purchasing foods to Rein. He's the one who tire me anyways.

When he left to buy us some foods, I took my phone out just to see it being bombarded by Hanji. Scowling at the sight, I scrolled through my phone to read all thirty messages sent by them.

**Hanji: Hey, Shorty! Are the both of you together now?**

**Hanji: So how does he looks like? I bet he's hot!**

**Hanji: Heeeey, Levi, don't ignore me!**

**Hanji: Leeeeviiiii, I want updates! Updates!**

**Hanji: Levi, don't turn and face your midget but fabulous ass on me, where's the updates?**

**Hanji: Levi, my dear midget, I'm dying here!**

Glaring at the phone, I started typing a reply but an idea came to my mind. Without wasting another second, I took a photo of my middle finger and sent it to Hanji.

**To: Hanji**

**17:30**

_That photo's for you, Hanji. It's all doing well so stop spamming me with your messages! Fuck, can't you go until I got home?_

Rein came back, handing me a can of soda and a...churro. I looked up and saw him eating the last bite of his, revealing another one. He sat down beside me, opening his mouth to take a bite from his new churro when he noticed me staring at him and he stopped midway, his mouth hanging open.

"Uh, why?"

I raised the pastry in front of his face. "This shit's too sweet."

"You don't want it?" His face fell like how a child's would if their parents told them that they wouldn't get a new toy. The sight made me feel a little guilty and I just found myself eating the snack he gave me. It did the trick of lighting up the brunet's face and it took all of me to resist the urge of rolling my eyes.

We ate in relative silence-well, as silent as the amusement park full of rides and people can provide.

"What do you wanna ride next?"

_You._

My face heat up at the answer my mind made and I quickly shot my head down. What the fuck are you thinking, Levi?!

"Levi? Are you okay?" He lifted my head up using thumb and index finger, his face showing worry when he saw me. Damn right, my face is as red as a fucking cherry. "Your face is so red. Are you sick?"

"I'm not." _I'm just sick of how dirty my mind become when I'm with you._ "Don't worry."

"But your face is so red."

"It's just because of the heat."

I stood up and walked away, leaving a confused Rein behind. I shouldn't let myself be flustered by my own...dirty thoughts.

"Hey, Levi, wait up!"

I didn't slow down. I just continued to walk in a past pace but it wouldn't take a fucking genius to know that the brat has long legs and will catch up to me without a sweat.

"Levi-"

 

"Let's ride the roller coaster."

*****

When we already sat on our seats in the ride, Rein called me. I looked at him and saw him with a smug look on his face.

"What?"

"Are you sure that you want to ride this?"

My eye twitched with what he said. "What the fuck are you implying, huh?"

"Nothing." But his tone suggests otherwise.

"We'll see."

The guy securing the seats started to count and we took a look at each other before the ride started.

The moment the ride started, all of the words that we're about to throw went out of the window. As the ride made it's descent, everything around us became a mixture of blurred surroundings, flashes of colors accompanied by people's screams. The wind hits my face in a harsh way, like it wanted my face to be fucking removed. I'm not that aware of anything, if I'm screaming or not, but Rein's laughter caught my hearing despite the sounds that should've been drowning it.

"Whooooo!" I felt a hand took mine and I knew that it's Rein's in an instant. I turned my head to look at Rein and caught him looking at me, smiling widely. I also smiled, letting myself loose for the whole ride. We went up, down and through the loops, both of us screaming our lungs out and laughing out loud. When the ride ended, we were still both experiencing adrenaline rush, experiencing dizziness as the aftermath.

The dizziness ceased minutes later and the first thing that came out of Reins mouth is, "Can we get some ice cream?"

I just nodded and we started walking again to the nearest ice cream booth. We both chose cookies 'n cream, each one of us have two scoops in one cone.

"Ugh, this is sticky." I looked at Rein and saw his hand covered by the melted ice cream. He stared at it for a minute before he slowly looked at me, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

My mind work and I saw through his plan. I slowly took a few steps away from him before I slowly took off in a sprint. He ran after me, causing me to run faster. There's no way in hell I'm going to let him wipe that sticky shit on me.

"Oi, Rein! Don't you even fucking dare!"

"Come on, my dear Levi, don't you want to hug me?"

"Hell fucking no! Get away from me!"

He laughed loudly and in that moment, I felt like a child again. It's like we went back to those old days, the days when we didn't worry about anything. When we found joys in the simplest things.

I didn't care about anything, not caring if we looked childish, if we're not acting our age. All that matters in that moment is that we felt like kids again, happy and carefree, oblivious to any filth and cruelty this thing called life has.

"Got you!" He grabbed my hand to stop me and quickly wrapped one of his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his. I tried to squirm my way out but he's not having any of it and just held me against him tighter. "I'm not going to let you get away."

"Don't you fucking dare, Rein. You won't see-" I was cut off when my eyes met his and I felt like it was sucking me in. It's easy to get lost in it, but not in a bad way. It's like going to an unfamiliar place and got yourself lost, but being lost soon made you see things that's worth it.

He was slowly leaning in and it's enough to make my fucking knees turn into damn Jell-O. Why is he leaning? Is he going to kiss me? Do I want it to happen?

_Of course you do, Levi._

I ignored the voice inside my head and just focused on Rein. I waited for him to close the distance between us. I waited and waited, but in the end all I got was the feeling of coldness in my cheek. I was taken by surprise and left me staring at him. A grin was formed in those sinful lips of him. "Got you, Levi."

My mind finally processed what happened and I quickly made my move to glare at him. "Oh no, you don't."

"I sure as hell did."

I swiftly moved my hand to his face, the ice cream hitting him in his forehead. His grip on me loosened and I distanced myself from him, watching in amusement when the cone stuck to his forehead.

"Oh, who would have guessed that I would see a unicorn in here?"

Without saying another word he moved fast until he's in front of me, doing the same thing that I did to him earlier. Now we both have an ice cream cone on our foreheads. Great. We're a unicorn duo.

Hearing a snap, I looked and saw that he took out his phone to take a picture. He grinned loudly at the picture like a mad man. I frowned and made a move to snatch it but before I can successfully do it, he raised it over his head, unabling me to take it.

"Delete that picture, Rein."

"No."

He hid his phone in his pocket and smeared the ice cream on my cheek. I did the same to him and soon we both have ice cream-smudged faces, looking worse than toddlers. We both threw the ice cream cone and what's left in a trash can.

"We need to fucking clean up." I cringed at the stickyness in my face and we both started to head out in a toilet. We washed our faces with water and dried it off using tissues.

"You're such a brat, Rein." I glared at him at the mirror but he just smiled.

"You enjoyed it."

I just rolled my eyes, not denying or proving that he's right. We got out and he held my hand without any words, starting to pull me off to where his mind was set to.

"What are you planning?"

"Let's ride the Ferris Wheel, it's already dark and the view will surely be great."

We soon reached the ride and fall in line, waiting for our time to get on. I noticed that he's still holding my hand. How many times did we held hand this day?

"Uh, Rein, you can let go of my hand, you know? I'm not running."

"I know you wouldn't, but I love holding your hand."

If that isn't enough to make the butterflies on my stomach erupt and flutter like crazy then I don't know what is.

When our turn came, we both got inside, sitting in front of each other for balance. The ride started to move slowly, my head turning to the left to see the sight of city lights. It's a beautiful sight, and it sent waves of content in me.

Rein, on the other hand, decided not to look at the sight I'm looking at but look at me instead the whole time. I felt him watching, felt his stare leaving traces on me, but I didn't look at him. Not until he called my name.

"Levi."

I tore my gaze away from the view and willed my heart to stop trying to get out of my chest. His gaze was full of affection and it pinned me at my seat, my breathing becoming uneven.

"What?" I was thankful that I was able to keep myself from stuttering. I'm not like this usually, I never fucking acted like this before, but it seems like he has the skill to make me a damn flustered mess.

"Thank you for spending this day with me. Even if it's just for the prize-"

"It's not for the prize, idiot." Did he really think that I only did this, that I only spent my day with him in an amusement park just because of that so-called prize? "I went here with you because I wanted to. I wanted to spend time with you." I _need_ to be with you. "So don't think that this is for that shitty contest we did."

And with that he smiled at me, a smile that cannot be described in a thousand words, a smile that's more perfect than the view of the city lights or other things that I found beautiful in my life, a smile that is enough to make me smile too.

"Thank you."

He moved from his place to the seat beside me, causing the thing to rock. I glared at him and he just laughed, brushing it off. Just like earlier, he looked at me with eyes full of affection, full of care, softly taking my face in between his hands. He started to lean in once again and I closed my eyes, waiting for the distance between us to vanish.

Instead of feeling his lips against mine, it landed on my forehead, sweet and chaste. There's no word that can describe it aside from perfect. The gesture is pure and innocent, better than a kiss on the lips. Everything about him overwhelmed my senses-his scent, his presence, every single thing about him. It's like time stopped itself and we're the only ones living in the moment.

As my heart started to race, he started to move away, his lips leaving a burning feeling on my skin. The smile never left his face as he gently run his hands through my black locks. Staring at him, I knew that I didn't make the right choice and now I knew it.

I'm falling for him hard, and I don't think that there's a fucking way to save myself from it.


	7. The Start Of An "Us"?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's another set of chapters. I hope that you guys like it and please, let me know what you think about it! It would definitely help.
> 
> Other than that, enjoy.

Even after the Ferris Wheel ride has finished, the tingling sensation that I felt all over my body still lingered. There's almost no space in between us now—courtesy to Rein's effort—and his hand never left mine. It didn't help cease the heat on my face so I kept looking down, avoiding his gaze as much as I can.

But of course, Rein being the overly worried little shit he is, noticed my behavior.

I felt him squeezed my hand, making me look up to see a worried look on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am." He really is worried about me, huh? I set my gaze straight to his eyes to meet his gaze and gave him a reassuring look. "Don't worry."

"Why is your face red, then? It surely isn't from heat." He stopped, thinking for a moment before a sly grin broke out of his features. "Oho, are you blushing? You're blushing, aren't you?"

I tried my best to stop myself from blushing, giving him a sharp look. "I'm not, why would you even fucking think of that?"

He tutted. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Do I look so damn good that I made you blush?"

I kicked him on the shin, making him wince, his hand moving to clutch it. He shot me an offended look in which I replied with a mask of indifference on my face. "Ow, that hurts."

"That's for you being a shitty brat."

I quickly walked away, leaving a laughing Rein behind. He followed soon after he finished having a good amount of laugh, his subject not being funny at all.

Poking my side, he started to ask me, "Hey, are you mad?"

I'm not mad, I'm just irritated. Who wouldn't be if someone made fun of you when you're blushing? It's not like you can fucking control it.

I didn't answer and remained silent, keeping fixing my gaze ahead of me while ignoring Rein. But he kept on being stubborn, something that the Yeager twins are very good at. Once they set their heart on something, they wouldn't stop at anything just to get it.

So in response to him I also acted stubborn, willing myself to ignore his apologies. It was proven hard, considering that I almost always give in easily to them since we were kids, but I won't do it this time.

"Hey, Levi, talk to me." He's still poking me, not stopping even once. He then wrapped his hand around my forearm, starting to tug it. "Sorry if I made you angry."

He sounded so awfully honest that I couldn't help but sigh and give in. I scolded myself in my mind, scolded how I was so easily swayed by him despite acting the complete opposite when it comes to others but I'm not having any of it. Instead, I sighed and stopped to look at him with seriousness.

"Fucking stop poking me if you still want to go home with your shitty fingers completely attached."

"But you're mad at me."

He is now wearing a sad expression, like a child who didn't get the toy that they want. I rolled my eyes at the sight and punched his shoulder lightly.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just irritated that you're making fun of the redness of my face."

"But you're so cute like that!"

I once again shot him a glare, eventually closing my eyes and letting him have his way. We went silent after that, threading the path with our hands connected as we walked past through a swarm of crowd.

Once we reached the uncrowded part of the amusement park, he stopped walking, forcing me to do the same.

"What do you want to do now?"

I thought for a moment. I don't really have any idea of what exciting shits I want to do at this moment.

I gave him a shrug as a response. I don't care about what we'll do, to be fucking honest. Even if we just stared at each other for the whole night, it would still be nothing sort of boring. There's no dull moment when you're with him.

Nodding, he took my hand again without another word and started pulling me to where the exit was. He didn't say a word, just forced me to follow him to wherever fuck he wanted.

"What are you planning?"

"I want to take a picture at the photo booth. A remembrance."

"That place is a rectangular space of pure filth and germs."

He looked down at me with a pleading look. "Please? Just this one?"

I really can't say no to this guy. Sighing, I gave him a curt nod and he pulled me to where the photo booth is.

When the place is within our sight,  we saw that the booth was empty. It definitely lit his mood up more, dragging me with him faster and I found myself walking faster to keep up with his pace.

"Oi, Rein, slow down a little, will you? In case you couldn't see, my legs aren't as fucking long as yours."

He didn't comply. He kept on walking on a fast pace, leaving me jogging me so I won't be dragged behind. I don't know if he didn't fucking hear me because of the noise surrounding us or the damn brat just chose to ignore what I said, but I just stop complaining and did my best to keep up.

As soon as we reached the place, he unceremoniously opened the curtains wide and pulled me inside. He put some bill on the machine and clicked something before positioning himself beside me with a bright smile.

I'm painfully aware of the brooding look I have on my face, but it doesn't mean that just because he wanted some pictures as a remembrance that I'll go out of my way to at least try to lighten up.

The machine started taking shots, the flash almost blinding me which made me squint my eye. Rein just continued smiling at the camera and sometimes he's even doing funny faces. Noticing that I wasn't even smiling, he looked down at me.

"Levi, we're taking a photo as a remembrace, not a mug shot. Smile, will you?"

"No." I won't comply. It's enough that he brought me to this box of filth.

He frowned, narrowing his eyes on me. Slowly, his lips started to form a smirk and I know right then that what entered his mind isn't a good idea.

"Then let me do this."

He placed both of his hands on my shoulder, making me face him. One of his hand travelled down to the small of my back and the other cupped my cheek, my eyes widening at the sudden change in him. He looked at me with lidded eyes and a smirk, causing my face to heat up while a lump formed in my throat.

_What the fuck is he doing?!_

He started leaning in, the look on his face not changing. I just stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for what's to come with my face burning. Is he going to kiss me?

I just stoodthere as stiff as a board, my mind starting to panic. I swallowed the lump in my throat and opened my mouth to speak, only to be stopped by him.

"Smile, Levi."

And another flash occured with the feeling of his warm lips touching my cheek.

"I guess that I will consider this as the prize, Levi."

I never smacked anyone so hard.

*****

"What do you want to do now?"

We went away from the photo booth as soon as he got his damn pictures. The smile on his face was priceless even after I hit him so hard in the back of his head. He continued to stare at it while we walk, he even bumped onto others because he's not looking at his way.

Frowning at the lack of answer, I slapped his arm and it's enough to make him look at me.

"What?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "I asked you what you want to do now. "

He looked up in wonder before answering, "I want to buy some pizza and hang out in your apartment."

"Wow, you sounded like you own the place."

He craned his neck to look at me, giving me his puppy eyes. He's not looking at where he's going and I won't be surprised if he'll suddenly trip because of it. "Is it okay?"

 _You don't even need to ask._ "I'm just kidding you. Yeah, let's do that."

He smiled widely and nodded enthusiastically. It did the trick and what I thought earlier happened. He tripped on the uneven path of cobblestone, losing his balance and falling on his butt.

"Ow."

I laughed and the look he gave me could've killed me but no, I continued laughing, ignoring his glare at me, him laughing along with me eventually.

I held out a hand to him, smiling at him. "Stand up and let's go home, brat."

*****

"Ahh, I feel so full."

Rein is laying on the couch with his head resting on my lap, his hand rubbing circles on his stomach. I removed my gaze from the movie that's currently playing on the TV—the movie that I wasn't paying attention to—and looked down at my lap, seeing his face so relaxed with his eyes closed and the tiniest of smile on his lips. Seeing him like this started a rumble in my stomach as my heart started to quicken its pace.

"That's because you ate too much. I'm pretty fucking sure that eating that amount of pizza isn't considered healthy."

He hummed and waved a single hand lazily in the air in an dismissive manner. "What's done is done, Levi. I already ate it. There's nothing we can do unless you want me to puke all of it."

"What the hell, Yeager, shut the fuck up if you won't say anything that's not goddamn disgusting."

"Hush, Levi, and let the silence take over."

I rolled my eyes with his response but complied to it. I returned my gaze to the screen a few meters away in front of us, but the thing completely lost my interest so I just shut it off, the lost of the sounds coming off of it made the place completely silent.

I leaned back and let my head hang on the edge of the couch, closing my eyes and making my mind wander. I already admitted that I'm starting to like him. I never felt like this before, never felt my heart beat so fast it feels like it want to get out of my chest when he's around, my stomach tying itself in knots at the very thought of him, how my world became bright and warm in contrast to what it was before he came back, a world that's dark and cold, a world where I feel so alone. I wasn't used to anything he's making me feel, used believe that all of it are nonexistent and are only written in papers using ink, but now that I experienced it first hand, a part of me started to believe it. Despite the peculiarity of it, I don't want it to stop. I finally felt happy after five years of longing.

I don't know if I'm going way too fucking fast, considering that he's been here for only a weeks, but we already knew each other long before. I may only be misleading the longing that I'm feeling into believing that I'm liking him for more than a friend, but I don't think that it's possible to confuse this longing to these things that bubble inside me at the thought of him.

I looked down and opened my eyes to look at him, his eyes closed, his features looking soft with his face relaxed. Just the sight started to do wonders to my heart and the annoying insects in my stomach. Before I can even think of what I'm doing, my hand find its way to his face, gently touching his cheek. The moment my hand touched his skin, it felt like some kind of electricity had sparked, just like how it did earlier when he held my hand, but this time, I didn't pull back. I let my hand rest on his soft, tan cheek.

With his eyes closed, he leaned in to my hand, my thumb starting to softly carress his cheek. My eyes never left his face so when he opened his eyes, I was met by the deep, warm, amber colored eyes. The meeting of our gaze made a smile form on his lips, his hands moving to also rest on my cheek.

"Did you have fun today?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's fun."

The smile on his face widen, a sly glint appeared in his eyes. "And it's fun seeing you jealous and blushing."

My hand quickly took his cheek in between my thumb and index finger, pinching and pulling it at the same time. My action caused him to yelp, swatting my hands away and resting his palm on his cheek.

"That hurts."

"You're a brat. You talk shit, you get hit. Simple logic, really."

He did his best to glare at me, he really did, but it just made him look like there's something in his eyes. "Sadist."

"Oh, really now?" I retained the impassive look on my face but my amusement is showing through my voice. "I'm a sadist for doing something to stop your brattiness?"

He rolled his eyes, a gleam of amusement trying but failing to hide. "Whatever, Levi. You act like a grumpy old man."

"I do not."

"You do."

"Brat."

"Grump."

I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away from him. He sat up then placed both of his hands on my waist and in a span of a few seconds, I felt his fingers slowly made its way to my sides, starting to make movements until he's tickling me.

I am very ticklish and it fucking sucks. And unfortunately, this brat knows it and is taking advantage of it.

"S-stop it! I-I'm going to k-kill you!" I was laughing really fucking hard as I tried to squirm my way out of him but he isn't having any of it. The sound of my laughter seems to fuel him up more and he started tickling me as if it's his life's mission.

"Rein, you f-fucking brat! Let m-me go, ah!"

"No, I won't. I'm going to tickle you until you run out of air." And tickle me he did, making my face red as I gasp for air between my laugh. He started to laugh along, his eyes shining with joy.

When he finished, he left me gasping for air to catch my breath, my stomach aching from laughing too hard. Even my jaw fucking aches.

"Pffft."

My head whipped to look at him and sent him a glare, a scowl resting on my face. He threw both his hands up in the air defensively.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" He shook his head and feigned innocence, the fake act showing in his features.

"Nothing." I narrowed my eyes at him and felt my eye twitched. He sighed and brought of his hands to his lap before looking at me with a small, genuine smile. "It just feels so good to hear your laughter, Levi. It sounds so beautiful, and hearing it makes me want to hear it more and more."

The irritation I felt vanished like it didn't exist in the first place. It was replaced by a warm feeling, making my face heat up causing me to look away.

"Aww, is Levi blushing again?" I turned to look at him and caught a cheeky look on his face, all I know is that I want to wipe that look off of it.

"I don't."

He nodded and hummed, showing that he's not believing me. "Oh, sure you don't."

I just rolled my eyes and stood up, sauntering to the kitchen to make myself some tea. Rein followed me and is walking beside me, bumping his hips to mine on the way. I looked up and saw him giving me a crooked smile.

"Did I piss you off?"

"What do you think?"

"Uh, yes...?" He sounded so unsure that it made me want to chuckle but I fought it. He has a weird look on his face which made him look constipated—I just wish that he only _looks_ constipated or else I'll throw him out—while his hand is scratching his nape.

"Look, Levi. I don't want to annoy you so if I did, I'm sorry. You're just too cute when you're flustered and..." He started rambling and I didn't take the time to listen. I just started to put some water in the kettle and let it boil, taking out two cups from the cupboard and a teabag. He sat by the counter with his chin resting on top of his palms, his elbows propped on the countertop. He kept his eyes trained on me the whole time and I raised an eyebrow at him before questioning him.

"What?"

He tilted his head a bit to the left, his eyebrow furrowing on the process. His lips slowly pursed into a straight line, his face showing how deep he's thinking right now. Worry started to bubble inside of me at the sight.

"Oi, Rein. What are—"

"Are you sure that you never had a boyfriend in those five years? Not even once?"

I rolled my eyes, not amused. Did he really made me worry for nothing?

I turned to face my back to him when I heard the whistling of the kettle. I poured some water in each cup, letting the teabag add some flavor to the water before I threw it to the trash can. I added a little sugar to Rein's cup and stirred it before I went to the counter and sat beside him.

"Thanks." He blew at the tea before he took a sip, and I tore my gaze away from him to start drinking my own. A few seconds of silence was broken when he called me again.

"Levi." I set my cup down and looked at him. "You haven't answered my question."

"I already answered it before, haven't I?"

"Yes, but I still can't believe it.

"I'll only had a fucking lover before if I had one without me knowing it. "

"Is that so?" He went silent after that, proceeding to drink his tea without another word. I just frowned before I brushed it off, already used to his randomness.

I heard my phone rang from my pocket and I knew who it was without even looking at it. I took it out of my pocket and unlocked it, tapping Shitty Glasses' message.

**From:** **Hanji**   
**21:34**

_Hey, Levi! I'm sure that you're already home by now. Where's the information I'm asking you? I'm dying here, you know. :3_

Sighing in exasperation, I started to ask in my mind the question that it always has when it comes to them; Why are they that fucking excited to know about someone's goddamn love life? I don't even have one but they kept on pestering me.

"Let me guess, it's Hanji, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

I started typing a response to them. They won't stop bugging me unless I tell them something. Nosy Shitty Glasses. I wonder why they became my friend.

**To: Hanji**   
**21:36**

_It's great, we had fun at the amusement park. It would've been better without you fucking pestering me, you Shitty Glasses._

I'm about to set my phone down when it another message came again. It's from Shitty Glasses. They're replying so fast. Is Hanji that eager?

**From: Hanji**   
**21:38**

_What?! That's it?! I need details! ;(_

I ignored the message and set my phone to silent mode before placing it down on the countertop. I resumed drinking my tea that started cooling down and I heard Rein cleared his throat.

"You said that you weren't interested in anyone before, right? That you're too picky?"

He remembered that? "Yes, what about it?"

"If I told you I like you, would you go out to an official date with me?"

What he said caught me off guard. Is he serious about it? Or he's just playing around?

I composed myself before I shifted my body to look at him fully, making my look as serious as I can before asking, "What if I said 'yes'? Would you do it."

He gave me a challenged look and nodded, a fire of determination burning in his eyes. "I will."

The corner of my lips twitched and soon became a smirk. I think I like where this is going.

"Then prove it."

Who knows, maybe this will be the start of an "us".


	8. Shitty Glasses' Invasion

Last night, Rein left as soon as the conversation between us ended, leaving me pondering in my own thoughts. Is it okay that I reacted like that? Did I come off in a way that seems so goddamn desperate? Because I'm not, and I will never be desperate to be in a relationship with someone. That just isn't fucking me.

But still, I couldn't deny the fact that I felt so happy that he asked me to give him a chance, to give _us_ a chance, and the thought of us becoming as someone being more than just best friends sounds so enticing to me. I never had a problem being called as a friend before but now, knowing that Rein wouldn't treat me in other ways more than a friend sucks like a fucking black hole. And I sure as hell am glad that he's thinking just the same as I do.

With that, I started the morning with a small smile on my face which would've make me think that it's absurd not for the thing he asked me last night that left me feeling elated. I started my morning rituals before I went down to the kitchen, my desire for tea growing as each minute passed by. After I settled the kettle on top of the stove, I sat down on a stool by the counter top and propped my elbow on the counter, resting my chin on top of my palm. I just stared at the kettle and waited for the water to boil, watching the steam come out of the kettle. It didn't take long until the water boiled and I took my time to make myself an Earl Grey tea.

Once I was finished, I went back to the stool I'm sitting at earlier, drinking the tongue-scalding tea in silence. However, the sound of my phone ringing from the pocket of my jeans broke the quietness of the room.

Setting the tea down on the counter, I took my phone out and typed the numbers to unlock it, which is 7346. I don't know what came to my mind when I used that thing, used his name as my phone lock but I think that it didn't matter anyway.

My eyes are welcomed by the sight of the name of my phone lock code's name sake and my lips twitched at the sight. I tapped at the message and read it, the smile never faltering.

**From: Rein**   
**08:34**

_Good morning. Have a great day ahead. :)_

_'The fact that you texted me in the morning is enough to fuel my day.'_

Where the hell did that sappy thought came from? Rolling my eyes, my mind conjured up a single thought.

_I'm hopelessly falling for him._

I started typing a reply for him, trying to convey my feigned irritation into the message.

**To:Rein**   
**08:36**

_M_ _or_ _ning is only good for you. No one treats morning as fucking good._

**From:Rein**   
**08:39**

_The fact that you're existing is enough for each day to be great._

**To** **: Rein**   
**08:41**

_Stop being such a sappy little shit this early in the morning._

**From: Rein**   
**08:44**

_I never thought that being called a little shit can be a compliment. Don't worry, it won't be the only thing that'll come out of your perfect ass in the future. ;)_

My eyes widen at the text he sent me, my hands loosing its grip on my phone. My face started to heat up while my jaw slackened, completely unprepared for the last comment.

Rein has been quite a gentleman the past weeks, but he still have his moments. Moments like this, came every once in a while when he became childish, or in this case...

**To: Rein**   
**08:48**

_You fucking pervert._

I didn't wait for his response and turned my phone to silent, proceeding on drinking my tea as I ignored the heat on my face. I'm sure that I'm blushing like a fucking tomato right now and with the way my mind started to conjure up thoughts about it didn't help will the blush away.

I hurried finishing my tea, washing the cup first before I went to the living room. I rarely spend my time here alone, the room is only used whenever Rein is here with me. That little shit enjoys watching movies while lounging on the living room. I'd rather spend time on my bedroom.

You know, for the comfort that a fucking bed brings while being surrounded by pillows.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, shifting my body to lay on the couch. The length of the black leather couch is just enough to give my body space to lay comfortably. I took a pillow and placed it beneath my head, opening my book from where I left it.

Only my breathing can be heard throughout the silent room, and I noticed how much I became accustomed to the atmosphere that Rein always bring with him. Despir the words that are entering my head as I read, I can feel the loneliness that's lingering on the place, and that's how I knew how much impact Rein left in my life despite being gone for so long.

My reverie was cut off by a loud, fast knocking on my door. I frowned as I immediately knew who the person at the other side of the door is, and it took all of my will to make myself stand up from my place on the couch.

I dragged myself from the couch to the door, and it didn't take a fucking genius to know that I'm scowling. My hand gripped the handle tightly and opened the door with more force than needed before my sight was met with Shitty Glasses' face with a grin spread wide on their lips.

"Gooood morning, Shorty!"

"My morning was fucking ruined the moment you knocked on my goddamn door, you shit." I shot them a look of annoyance but they just ignored it and shoved me aside as they went inside. They removed their shoes before going inside so I didn't have to yell at them for that.

Sighing, I closed the door behind me, accepting that nothing can save me from their pestering. The frown that I constantly have gotten deeper, and I know that it wouldn't be erased until they leave.

Hanji isn't a bad friend. It's just that they always come at a wrong time.

They went to the couch and plopped themselves down on it, crossing their legs as they took a throw pillow from its place to set it on their lap. Then, they looked at me expectantly, not bothering to speak anything but, "Tell me."

I returned their stare with a blank look, turning to take a seat on one of the single couches adjacent to the one Hanji is sitting at. Their gaze never left me, their eagerness practically rolling off of them.

"What?"

They rolled their eyes and let out an exasperated sigh before looking at me with narrowed eyes, pointing a finger at me. "You told me that you'll tell me about your date with that _bestfriend,"_ they air quoted the last word, "of yours once you got home. I already let you be in peace last night and you owe me for that. Now tell me."

"I'm not in the mood—"

"You're always not in the mood—"

I sent them a sharp stare. "Shut up."

They raised both of their hand and I sighed before I continue. "Just as I said, I'm not in the mood to tell you everything so just ask what you want to know."

Without wasting a second, a wide grin appeared on their face, their body leaning forward in excitement. "Did you do the do?"

My hand automatically moved to grab one of the throw pillows and sent it flying to Hanji, hitting their face causing it to throw back. The look on my face was deadly but the crazy shit just ignored it, cackled so loud and humanly, causing me to get more mad.

"Aww, is wittle Wevi shy?"

"Shut the fuck up, Hanji. You're not funny."

"Well I'm not joking."

I glared at them again and they shut their shitty mouth up, acting to zip it. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. I really should've been used to them by now, but everyday they get more and more annoying. How is that possible? Better ask them.

"Hanji." My tone was blank, as well as the look on my face. "Do you really think that I'm the one to fuck on their first dates?"

They shrugged casually. "Well, you don't. But damn, Rein is so fucking hot that I think anyone will be swooning for him. I know that you know what I mean."

Hanji's right, there's a big chance that Rein is being chased by girls and guys alike, and somehow that made me felt something rumble in the pit of my stomach. Am I jealous?

No fucking way. I am not and will ever be jealous. I'm not that fucking shallow and besides, I have no right to be. He isn't my property and neither am I his in the first place.

But still, it didn't stop me from spewing out the words venomously, the words slipping off of my tongue easily but leaving a foul bitter taste to it. "I don't fucking care. He can go flirt with whoever he wants."

"Oh?" They looked at me as if they know that I'm lying. Which I'm not. "You don't sound like you don't care. It's pretty obvious that you don't like the idea of someone liking him other than you."

I scowled at them as I try to deny the fact that they're right. I didn't reply to their statement, not agreeing nor denying it. I know that deep in the back of my shitty mind, I don't want anyone to chase after him, to like him, to claim him as theirs. I want him all to myself, and no matter how fucking selfish it may sound, thinking of us being together makes the most sense. We've been together before he left, even though there's no official strings attached, we like each other since then.

And maybe it's the right time to continue where we left off before.

"Levi." I heard Hanji called me, pulling me out of my trance. I did my best to keep my expression neutral despite the storm of thoughts in my mind.

"What?"

"Can I continue asking you about the date? We kind of get off topic there."

"Yeah, all fucking thanks to you."

They once again ignored me and once again lean their elbow on the throw pillow, resting their chin on it before asking me, "Where did you go?"

"Amusement park."

They looked surprised for a moment before they laugh, the volume slowly increasing as they shook their head.

"Dammit, Levi! He is really able to make you go to an amusement park with him?" They shook their head and I waited for their laugh to die down, them looking at me as soon as they regained their composure. "I can't believe it."

I once again scowled at the knowing look on their face. "It's the first time I'll go out with him after five goddamn long years, Shitty Glasses. What would fucking you expect?"

"Or you just can't say no to him. Damn, who could even deny that demigod—" They didn't finish their sentence when I cut them off with a glare.

"Okay, okay. Calm your tits, Shorty. I'm not interested in stealing your _bestfriend_ away." They emphasized the word bestfriend and I'm sure that they're doing it to mock me. "So, how did the date went?"

"Great."

"I know that it's great, Mr. Grump. I want details, not the vaguest of the vague answers that ever existed."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and just proceed to tell them about how it went, starting from the cashier at the ticket booth, to the rides, the ice cream play and our ride at the Ferris Wheel. I left out some details, including the electricity I felt when he first held my hand, and some things that aren't worth telling.

In the end, I got a squeal that will put anyone's damn eardrums to rest, and I really thought that I'd went deaf after that. I threw another pillow and it once again to hit their face.

"Shut the fuck up, Hanji!"

They looked at me with a wide grin on their lips that I thought that it's going to split. "Did you kiss?"

Images of what happened at the Ferris Wheel flashed inside my head and before I know it, they're squealing once again, even louder and more eardrum-breaking than before. I just covered my ears with my hands in a futile attempt to block out their noise, not having anything to throw at them. When the squealing died down, I took my hands off of my ears and glared at them.

"Are you fucking done now?"

They nodded too enthusiastically and covered their mouth with their hand, muffling their laughter. "Based on your reaction, I think he did kiss you."

My brow automatically arched at their response. Based on my reaction?

Hanji understood my confusion and once again laughed, softer this time. "You're smiling, Levi. And by the looks of it, I think it went pretty great."

I sighed and leaned my head back, the soft look on Rein's face before he kissed me that night displaying in my sight. "Yeah."

"Where? Where did he kiss you?"

"At the top of the Ferris Wheel ride."

Another squeal was supposed to come out but I heard them cut it off, and I moved my eyes to look at them.

"That's cliche but it's soooo romantic! It's magic never gets old and it always do the trick! It even worked on you, my little marshmallow!"

My brow knitted together at the name. "Little marshmalow? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"For me you're like a marshmallow. Soft and sweet. Only when it comes to Rein, of course."

 _Damn right,_ I thought, but I'll never admit it to anyone out loud. Just like what I had said before, that brat did have a tight hold on me, making me want to do anything he wants.

"Sooo..." I turned my head to look at Hanji and saw their eyebrows knitting. "Are you going out or nah?"

"And why would that matter to you, huh, Shitty Glasses?"

They rolled their eyes and raised an arm, bending their wrist to lay out their hand to the side. "Uh, duh. I like, luxury cruise the both of you since I saw you together. I'll even build a shrine if you want to."

"Fucking stop with that damn madness, Hanji."

"Answer the question, Levi."

"Yes."

A moment of silence is impossible to happen if Hanji's around but miracles do happen. They just sat there, looking at me with their mouth agape, not saying any word. It kept the silence in the air for longer than I thought it would and I started to think that Hanji's soul already got sick of them that it already left them.

But before I could even say anything, they moved, their mouth closing before the corners lift into a wide grin and before I knew it, a pillow went flying over to me.

"What the fuck, Hanji!"

"You didn't tell me that part of the story earlier, you sly midget!"

"I'm not obliged to tell you everything."

They are practically bouncing on their seat with a stupid dreamy look on their face. I wonder why they are so interested in someoene else's life too much. "Tell me how he asked you."

I frowned, not really sure on how I'm going to narrate it to them. Everything happenedin a blur that I haven't been able to grasp and understand everything.

"I don't know how to tell you since everything happened so fucking fast. He just asked me again if I had never been in a relationship after they left and I said yes. He asked me if I'll give him a chance if he tell me he likes me. I challenged him and he gave me a determined look." Tilting my head a bit to the side, I think of anything that's connected to it but nothing came up. I shrugged. "That's it."

"That's pretty unclear."

"That's what happened."

"Maybe—" They were cut off by a loud knock. I stood up and went to the door, opening it to reveal Rein with a large grin on his face.

"Good morning, Levi."

"What are you doing here, brat?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and he looked down, his right hand resting on his nape. "I thought that I'll go visit you because I thought that you got mad at me."

I rolled my eyes and stepped aside, holding the door for him to enter. He looked surprised, not moving from his place and just stared at me.

"Do you want me to drag your fucking ass in here?"

He quickly stepped inside, letting me close the door. He hugged me the instant I turned around, nuzzling the top of my head. I grunted and tried to push him away but he didn't budge.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Hugging you. I'm just glad tha you're not mad at me."

"For what? For being a damn pervert?" I pushed him away from me and glared, punching him lightly in the arm.

"What? I'm just telling the tru—"

"Finish that sentence and I'll shove your goddamn feet so far up your shitty ass that you'll age a few years."

He audibly gulped and nodded his head. "Good. Now—"

"You two are too cute!"

Rein's head turned to look at Hanji's direction, so fast I thought he'll get whiplashed. I glared at them and they giggled, waving their phone. "I took a picture. Wanna trade?"

Nodding, he walked over to Hanji. I frowned, crossing my arms. He took his phone out and gave it to Hanji. "I have a picture of us from our last date. Choose what you want."

And there I watched him trade pictures with Hanji, a stupid grin on his face as he did so. And his grin got impossibly wider when he saw a certain picture, probably the one with me in a bunny onesie when I was 14 because of a dare, and I cannot help but scowl at the brat. I've been threatening Hanji to delete that picture and successfully did it once, only to discover that they had another copy.

But the look on my face slowly disappeared at the stupid fond look on his face as he stared at his phone. My heart started to beat a little faster, and the look of the brunet's face triggered the rumble of the stupid fucking butterflies in my stomach. Looks like I'm getting infected by stupidity that's roaming around the two of them.

He's just a stupid brat, an adorable stupid brat that is one of my bestfriends, but I know that in time, I'll fall for him.


	9. Jealousy and Reminiscing

Days after Hanji's interrogation, everything went back to normal. Except that I am receiving more texts from Rein, always asking whatever the fuck I'm doing almost every hour. I gave no mind to it, knowing that it's his way of catching up to me considering that we barely have time to talk. With all the tests and shits we need to do for studies, we can't afford to waste time.

After long hours of listening to boring lectures and listing down notes, I let out a sigh of relief when the bell rang, signalling the end of my last class. Watching as the other students scurried out of the room, I let myself be the last to do so, not wanting to have any contact with them.

"Levi!" Hanji's voice boomed throughout the otherwise crowded hallway just in time when I stepped out, making others' heads turn to their direction. Lowering my head, I quickened my pace and tried ignoring them.

But of course, having long legs that I wasn't fucking blessed of, they easily reached me, hooking their arms around my neck. "Hey there, Shorty! Why did you ignore me?"

With a frown on my face, I unlatched Hanji's grip on me, pushing them a good few feet away from me. "Don't you fucking know about 'personal space bubble'? I'd rather have you not invading it, Shitty Glasses."

"Why? Because I'm not Rein?" The smug look on their face told me that they thought they hit a spot but they didn't. I just held my blank look on them, making them sigh.

"You're so boring, you know that? You need to spice your life up a bit."

"If ' _spicing your life up a bit'_ means acting like you, I'd rather live my life boring."

They gave me an incredulous look, like what I just said is the biggest damn lie that ever fucking existed. Rolling my eyes, I just ignored them and continued walking in a fast pace, wanting to leave the place as soon as fucking possible.

Hanji caught up and walked beside me, spouting out nonsense shits out of their mouth. I stayed silent the whole time just like what I always do, letting them do all the talk. What's there to talk about anyways? I don't have the energy to talk about things that wouldn't benefit me.

But as I let their babbling go on, a certain question caught my attention.

"What did you say, Shitty Glasses?"

They looked down at me, their brown eyes filled with excitement. "I said guess who decided to wait for you." They wiggled their eyebrows and cocked their head, making me look ahead.

There stood Rein, a bouquet in hand while leaning back on a sleek black car, wearing a dark blue long sleeves shirt that fits his toned body perfectly along paired with a dark skinny jeans. Noticing some girls who are whispering to each other before giggling standing a few feet away from him, I scowled, not even a bit glad of seeing someone acting like that because of Rein. Damn it, why can't he go to a goddamn place where no one would even try to think to fucking flirt with him?

I didn't make any move and just stood there, watching as he got fawned over by some strangers while he look at his phone. Soon enough Rein looked up from his phone and looked around, his gaze eventually setting on me. A smile lifted up from his lips and he pushed himself off of the car and started walking towards us, Hanji stepping in by pushing me towards him.

"What the fuck, Hanji!"

"Just go get him before those girls get him." They pointed to the girls who are currently ogling at Rein which caused me to roll my eyes.

"Fuck you." Seemingly unaffected by my words, they just smiled at me.

"You'll thank me sooner or later, Levi."

I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off when I felt a soft, warm lips on my cheek. My eyes went wide and my body became stiff, completely caught off guard. Hanji squealed and clasped their arms together, their face containing a dreamy expression.

"I'm gonna go now. Gotta give you guys some alone time." They winked and quickly took off before I could even say anything.

Totally aware of the warmth that settled on my cheeks, I turned my head to look at Rein but my eyes was met by the sight of the bouquet of red roses. With furrowed eyebrows, I took a hold of his wrist and pulled it down, revealing his face to me which has a sheepish look on it.

"Hi there, Levi."

I rolled my eyes in amusement before I took the bouquet out of his grasp. Silently examining the flowers in my hand while looking at him through my peripheral vision, I took note of the nervous look that settled on Rein's face. It always amuse me how he can go from being such a shitty bold bastard to this shy mess.

Lifting my gaze up from the bouquet, I let the smallest smile grace my lips. "Thanks, I like it."

His face brightened up as well as his smile, and I can see that that simple acceptance made his day. I chuckled and punched his arm slightly, making him laugh.

"What is this for?" I gestured to the bouquet he gave me. The response I received was a shook of his head and a shrug.

"Nothing. I just thought of giving you one since we're going out."

I stayed silent at that, letting his words process in my mind. So we're really dating now? He's really serious at what he asked me that night?

"Are you alright, Levi?"

I looked up to his worried face and I sighed, reaching up to flatten out the crease between his eyebrows. "Yeah, just thinking. You're like an old man, Rein."

He raised one of his eyebrows. "Oh? And why did you say so?"

"You always worry too much. You're like a dad."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms while looking at me seriously. "Am I not allowed to be worried about someone I like? As far as I know, it's natural."

"You fucking know what? I don't know how you can be a damn shy mess to this bold bastard."

"It comes with talent, Levi."

I clicked my tongue. "Talent my ass."

Without waiting for him, I started walking. He followed me and poked my cheek as the annoying brat that he is. Turning my head to the right, I glared at him. "Fucking stop poking me."

Giving me an apologetic look, he scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I just want to ask you something."

"And what is it?"

"Are you going to do anything later?"

I went silent for a moment as I think of anything that I need to do. "Nothing that I know of. Why?"

"I want to take you somewhere."

We stopped walking when we're beside the black car he's leaning on earlier and I opted to look at him, his eyes hopeful and waiting for me to say yes. I can feel my lips twitched in the subtlest of smile, thinking of how this guy can be so happy for the smallest things.

"Okay then. Just make sure that it isn't as germ infested and people crowded as the amusement park." He nodded eagerly and opened the door for me, gesturing for me to enter. I did so and settled the flowers on the backseat,  careful not to cause it any damage. After securing that it wouldn't fall, I sat properly and buckled the seat belt, staying silent as Rein started up the engine and drove out of the place.

Both of us are silent, the silence was being filled by the random songs coming out of the stereo and Rein's fingers tapping along to the song on the steering wheel. Idle chats do come at times, but it also dies immediately. After a good twenty minutes, Rein stopped at a convenience store, parking the car before unbuckling his seat belt.

"I'm gonna buy some foods. Do you wanna come?"

I shook my head and leaned back on the seat. "Nah, I'll just wait here."

He nodded before he went out and I watched until he disappeared inside the shop. With nothing left to do, I just silently stared outside the window with nothing but silence accompanying me.

As I did so my mind started to wander, questions popping out of nowhere in my mind. I wonder how this would all turn out. What if we didn't work out? Is it worth it to risk the bond between us just to try to get into some new territory, somewhere that I haven't got to explore before until now? And if it did, what if along the way the situation gets too rough and one of us just give up? Our friendship is something that I treasure the most, and just by thinking of it being ruined made me feel bad.

Wanting to distract myself from my own thoughts, I went out of the car, making sure to lock it first before I started walking towards the entrance of the establishment. I'm not going to enter, just going to wait for Rein to come out. I sat on one of the benches in front of the convenience store before I took out my phone, starting to scroll around and mess with it.

But after a few minutes, I felt someone looking at me. With a scowl on my face, I looked around to see who it was, and my eyes landed on a guy standing a few meters away from me. When he saw me looking back at him he showed me a trying-hard flirty smile and just the sight of it makes me wanna fucking puke.

Giving him a blank stare, I ignored him and went back to my phone, not giving mind to the fucker. How dense is he not to know that I'm basically telling him to fuck off?

And a few moments later I can feel someone near me, the smell of the person's perfume so strong it gave me nausea. It wouldn't take a genius that it is anyone but Rein, so with a frown I looked up to see the guy who's staring at me earlier.

"Hey, there."

I glared at him. "Fuck off."

He looked shocked for a moment before the look on his face morphed into one of amusement. "Ooh, you're a feisty one, aren't you? Come on, tell me, what's your name."

"Can't you fucking understand what 'fuck off' means?"

"Stop playing hard to get, mister. My name's Ice, what's—"

"I would fucking appreciate it if you will stay away from him." He was cut off by Rein, his voice calm but hostility seeping out of it. The guy looked back to face him, a frown on his face.

"And why would I? It—"

"If you don't want me to use force then I suggest that you get the fuck away. He's not available, if that's what you want to know." His face remained friendly and calm, but his eyes showed the opposite. The sight of it made me want to back down, and it's not easy for someone to do that. I guess that this fucker wanna piss himself.

Sensing his hostility, the guy muttered a 'sorry' before walking away, leaving the two of us alone. I returned my gaze to him and saw him frowning, and I made the move to bump his shoulder.

"Stop that, Rein. Let's just go now."

He just sighed and nodded before walking, not waiting for me. It caused a frown to appear on my face and I followed him, confused with his actions.

"Oi, Rein." I tried calling him but he didn't look back. He just kept on walking like he doesn't hear a single fucking thing.

I jogged closer to him and grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking further. I held him in a tight grip and pulled him close, shifting myself to position myself in front of him. "Oi, Rein. What the hell is your problem?"

"Nothing." He looked away from my gaze, choosing to look down at his side. It made my frown deepened, utterly confused with his behavior.

"I don't think so. If it's nothing you won't be acting like a kid in a tantrum."

He sighed and adjusted the paper bag in his hand before running his hand through his hair. "I said it's nothing, Levi. It's nonsense. Nothing worth of the time we're wasting so let's just go—"

"Stop acting like a damn kid and tell me what's fucking eating you." I kept my glare at him, not relenting to his excuses. He sighed again and looked away.

"I'm jealous, okay?" His voice came out soft and quiet but the bitter tone in it didn't slip past my hearing. I resisted the laugh that's threatening to come out and just stared at him blankly.

"Rein I—"

"Sorry, I just didn't like it when some—"

I held a finger to his lips to cut him off, a small smile on my lips as I stared at the confused look on his face. "You know, I would've fucking punched that guy if you didn't came to the scene. Have you seen him flirt? Hell, it's so fucking terrible I thought I'm gonna puke."

A smile blossomed on his lips before he chuckled, the uneasiness flowing out of him earlier now gone. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, now stop acting like a damn brat and let's go to wherever you want to bring me."

He nodded again and we started walking side by side until we reached his car. After setting in the goods he bought, we buckled in and he started driving, the silent atmosphere earlier replaced by the mingle of our voices, having casual talks of what's happening in our lives now.

Soon enough the concrete buildings and swarm of cars were gone, the sight replaced by a view of a plain, green grass covering it. It was a pleasant sight to look at, having used to seeing different city things shitting all over the place.

The road we're taking is a slope, and I know that it's a place that we've went to before. The way we're travelling to looks so awfully familiar, and my mind started to search for any memories in the back of my mind to remind me if this place.

"Do you remember this path we're travelling at, Levi?" I tore my gaze away from the outside and looked at him, him looking elated as his mind play out things in his mind for him to remember.

I shook my head, opting to look away from him and return my gaze outside, leaning my forehead on the window. "It looks fucking familiar but I can't put my damn finger on it."

Taking a sidelong glance to look at me, he smiled fondly at me. "You'll remember what it is once we reached the place."

I remained silent after that, soaking my eyes up with the view while rummaging my mind for any clues that will help me remember what this place was. I'm sure that it is something significant to us if he decided to drive out of the city.

While travelling, I didn't notice falling asleep. I was just woken up by the gentle tapping on my shoulder which caused me to stir, leaving me completely unaware of the surroundings. I got out and stretched, rubbing my eyes to remove sleepiness.

"What—" I was cut off when I saw the place, not believing how long it was since the last time we came here. It has been years, but seeing the place brought back the memories back from when we were children, innocent and carefree.

It was a high place—you can say that it's one of the mountainous part of the area—and it was giving the view of a field of green grass below. The grass was being swayed by the wind, the setting sun spreading out hues of orange, red and purple, painting the whole place beautifully just like a picture.

"So, I guess that you like it?" I turned my head to look at him, to see that stupid fond look on his face as he stared at me lovingly. It made the butterflies in my stomach erupt, causing my heart to beat like a hummingbird's wings, all the air leaving my lungs.

He looked beautiful at the moment, his chocolate brown hair swaying along the wind, his tan skin was being colored by the light of our surroundings, leaving an orangish hue on it. The colors brought out the beauty of his amber colored eyes, color as rich as honey, and I can't helo but feel myself fall for him deeper.

Fuck all of the doubts I'm having. I'm going to risk it all, risk everything we have to have the chance of waking up next to him each day.

"You fucker, you should've told me that you're going to bring me here."

He laughed and inched closer to me, wrapping one of his arms around my waist as he looked ahead of us, staring at the view of the plain that erupted into different colors.

"I was thinking of bringing you somewhere. I thought hard and nothing appealed to me until I remembered this place."

I let a smile made its way to my face as the wind blew past us, watching as the sun slowly hides from the horizon, giving way to the stars that's just hiding above.

"It's great to bee back here. It's just a waste that your twin isn't here to complete us."

He tightened his grip around me and pulled me closer to him before I felt his breath on top of my head. He started nuzzling it, leaving a kiss before answering. "It's okay, you'll see him again soon."

"I fucking wish so, I also miss Eren, that troublemaker." He chuckled before he went to my back and now wrapped both arms around me waist and I couldn't help but lean in and melt into his touch. It feels so welcoming, so safe like a safe haven. And I know that somehow it is, and I don't want anyone or anything to ruin it for me. I rested my hands on top of his and he made the move to lace our fingers together.

"We'll be complete soon again, Levi. Just wait a little longer."

"I was able to wait for five long damn years. I guess that waiting a little longer wouldn't be that hard." He hummed and rested his chin on my shoulder.

And with that, we stayed silent, just staring at the horizon with our hands linked as watched as the world turns into a dark, but beautiful night.


	10. Stars Are Our Witness

Soon after we watched the sun set, Rein told me to wait as he get out all of the things he brought. I refused and it took a little arguing between us before he gave in, letting me help him in the end. Stubbornness defeats stubbornness, it seems. 

Apparently, he decided to go camping here, saying that it's a good way to spend our time and relax. I agreed without any second thoughts, knowing that he's right and it's great to be back here after so long and camp like how we used to.

It didn't take long until we finished setting up the tent, placing pillows and comforters inside to provide the both of us comfort. After that both of us collected woods, which isn't that hard since we're near plenty of trees.

He made a fire out of the woods we collected and soon enough we found ourselves sitting in front of it, huddled together in a blanket as we roast some marshmallows.

The night is pleasant, like it was destined to be at peace to give us a night in which we'll be comfortable with. The sky is clear, only with the occasional passing of clouds that obscure the view of the bright stars that adorned the black sky. The wind that blows is just enough to leave us a little bit chilly, but not strong enough to kill the fire that's giving us warmth and light.

With the almost nonexistent space between us, I can feel Rein's warmth passing through him and to me, and I swear that his guy is a fucking heater. It feels comfortable, enough to fight off the cold that I'm feeling, and I mindlessly inched closer to him, eating off the little space between our shoulders earlier.

"Rein..." He was silently eating his marshmallow when I called him, making him look at me. I almost lost the strength I gathered to ask him what I want to clear between us when he looked at me, his eyes reflecting nothing but admiration.

"What is it?"

"I..." I let out a sigh and pulled the end of the blanket covering me closer to me when the wind blew stronger, making me shiver. Noticing it, he placed his arm around my waist, scooting closer to me. I leaned in to it, the gesture nothing short of comfortable.

"Come on, Levi. You're making me nervous."

I took in a deep breath before I started speaking. "What if we don't work out? What will become of us? I don't wanna risk everything if it'll only be gone to waste after this."

"Do you think that we won't work out?" I'm about to say that he shouldn't answer a question using another question but decided against it, letting it slip. It isn't the fucking time for any sassy remarks.

Instead, I shook my head. "That's not it, I'm just stating a possibility."

He tightened his grip on me and I rested my head on his shoulder, his head resting over mine as we watched some of the embers rise out of the fire just to be swept away.

Maybe that's a way of how I can explain what we're diving into right now. Like the ember, we're stepping out of our zone, the place where we secluded ourselves to avoid hurt and going into the unknown, unaware of the things that will meet us as we did so. We will be swept away by our emotions, emotions that make us lose control of ourselves, makes us feel like we haven't known ourselves at all, and it'll lead us to what we will become, whether be it for good or bad. It feels exhilarating to say the least, plunging into something we haven't explored yet, but at the same time it scares me. Experiences are always accompanied by fear, but I know that if I'm with him, facing it wouldn't be so hard.

"Don't think of the worst, Levi. You trust me, right?" I nodded, his free hand snaking up to hold one of mine. Interlacing our fingers, he squeezed it. "If you do, then stop worrying. Everything is going to be alright."

"Yeah, sorry for suddenly bringing this up."

"It's okay. If you have anything bothering you, just tell me."

"You're the only one bothering me." I turned my head to look at him when I heard him huff out a breath, not sure if it's from amusement or not, but I saw his lower lips jutted out a bit to form a subtle pout. It's enough to put off all the heaviness in the atmosphere that my question brought and I just found myself chuckling.

"What? Is there anything funny?" His voice hosted feigned irritation, the tone would've fooled me into believing that it was fucking true if I don't know him as well as I do.

"You." He rolled his eyes and bumped me by his shoulders lightly. He went silent after that, making me trail my own gaze to where he's staring at.

He's looking at our hands, our skin tone very different but still looks good together, just like how chocolate compliments milk. His hand is slightly bigger than mine, encasing my cold ones to his warmth.

"Your hand is small."

I lightly slapped his cheek with my free hand and scoffed. "No shit, Sherlock."

"And cold."

"You're just a fucking heater."

And after that we returned to silence. It was enough, just being beside him enough to entertain me. No words need to be spoken, his presence telling me what I want to know.

That I'm not alone, and that he won't let me be.

"Levi." I hummed in response. "Do you wanna stay here or go inside the tent?"

"Here."

"Let me take a blanket so that we can lay down." I nodded and he removed his arm around my waist, standing up before going inside to take a blanket. He's also back after just a few seconds, placing the blanket on the ground before going in again, this time bringing a pillow. He laid down on the left side and patted the other side. "C'mere."

I rolled my eyes before I crawled over, positioning myself beside him before I laid down. Both our heads rested on the pillow, looking ahead of us to the sight.

"I miss being at this place." His voice broke the silence in the air, his voice sounding soft and happy. I tilted my head to the sight to look at the content look on his face, a warm feeling budding in my chest.

I don't know how long I stared at him, how long I fixed my eyes to that glimmer of happiness in his eyes. But despite that, I can see some emotions hidden deep beneath those amber eyes. The look of longing, maybe even sadness hidden behind those bright light in his eyes.

Then he looked at me again, that stupid fond look in his face that it seems to always have whenever I'm with him, that stupid look that sent warmth to me and makes me want to melt. "But you know what I missed the most?"

I kept my gaze on him. "What?"

And then he smiled, a mixture of sadness and happiness in it. "I miss being with you."

It left me wondering, wondering why he looked like that when we're here together, huddled together as we stared right through each others' eyes. "We're together now."

He hummed and nodded, the look on his face not leaving. He started running his hand through my hair, the feeling very comforting and I couldn't bring myself to tell him to stop. "We are."

"Then why do you look like that?"

"Look like what?"

My eyebrows knitted together in response, not knowing how to explain to him the look that settled on his face. It's like all the adjectives in the English language was rendered useless, despite it having hundreds of it. And so I kept my gaze on him, not minding the fact that he may be being weirded out. "Fuck, I don't know how to explain it. You look like you're happy but I can see that you're also not. It's like you're goddamn here but at the same time you're so far away. What's gotten into you?"

He laughed, the sound sounding so different from the past five years that I haven't seen him. The high pitch of his voice was totally replaced by this good as fuck voice of his, deep and sultry, and the sound always left me wondering what the fuck he did to be this attractive guy that is laying beside me. Not that I didn't change, I changed a whole fucking lot in the past five years especially in the physique department.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about... something."

"So I'm right." Finally, the look on his face was replaced by something else, this one a look of confusion. "You really act like a fucking old man. Stop overthinking, will you? Aren't we here to relieve stress?"

He rolled his eyes and flicked me on the forehead lightly, amusement evidently clear on his face. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, mister."

He moved, and after a few seconds I was pulled by him, my face facing his chest as he wrapped his arm around me. My hands are rested between us, curled in his shirt at the sudden movement. Rein then started humming, the song that I was so familiar of, the song that I and his twin, Eren, love to listen to before.

The song is _Chasing Cars_ , that one song that still stuck in my head no matter how many years it has been since the first time I listened to it. The song just have this calm but catchy tone in it, the lyrics conveying a meaning of loving someone that you won't know what to do without them.

He continued singing the song from the beginning to the end, his voice sending waves of warmth to me. It made me feel like he intentionally sang it for me, like it is the only way for him to say what's going on in his mind. I appreciate it, knowing that I am a fucking failure when it comes to words, and it is true that songs are one of the best way to express what's in someone's mind.

When the song was finished, the silence has returned. None of us bothered to talk, still basking in this kind of intimate air that was able to rise earlier. It took a few minutes before I made the move to speak.

"What was that for?" My voice was kind of muffled, considering that my face is practically pressed on his chest, but he answered, his free hand once again moving to thread itself through my hair.

"I know how much you like it so I sung it."

"Is that all?"

"Of course, not. Consider it as a message from me to you." He pulled back, staring at me straight in the eye. "I know that I'm in love with you but we are both scared of what will become of us. I'm a hypocrite for telling you not to worry about it but I also do, maybe even more than you do. I've been chasing you for years, there are times when I even lost hope of seeing you again and now that I'm with you, now that I have the chance of being with you as someone more than just a friend, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. 

"I know that I love you, every second that ticks by proves that to me. I love you so much that I don't think that those three words can express it. It may be too early to say that I love you but I do. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. And now that we're here together, away from the world, all I want is to live off in this moment."

I was left staring at him, flabbergasted, not fucking ready to hear those words from him. My mind is a mess of words, of feelings that I can't fucking sort out, and it left me speechless. I wanted to say something, that somehow I'm also feeling the same damn way as he does for me, but no words are coming out of my mouth. My throat felt like it closed, like I went mute after his cheesy ass statements, and every time I opened my mouth there's no words that's coming out which made me look like a fucking fish so I just stopped.

Neither of us bothered to talk but we kept our gaze at each others' eyes. There's nothing but love in his eyes, and it made my heart want to get out of my chest again. I should've gotten used to it by now, considering that it always happen whenever I'm with him but I'm still not. Like every time I'm with him, I'm falling for him all over again.

"I—" My voice cracked and I cut myself off, clearing my throat before I started again. "Don't expect me to fucking say anything that cheesy back to you." I kept my tone light and playful and it seemed to the trick because he laughed, sounding so genuinely relieved and happy, and my lips curled a little upwards into a small smile as I watched him.

"I won't say that I'm not disappointed but I actually kind of expected that." He smiled at me brightly,  the light coming from the moon enabled me to see the light shade of pink that dusted his cheeks. "I'm glad that you took it lightly, Levi."

"To say that I wasn't caught off guard by it would be a lie, Yeager. Fucking warn me next time, will you?"

He gave me a sheepish look and subtly nodded. "Okay."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There's a shitty saying that says that actions speak louder than words, right? If I can't tell it to it directly, maybe doing something will speak of it for me.

So with a muttered _'fuck it'_ , I opened my eyes and was met by his curious gaze. "Close your eyes."

He did close his eyes closely, albeit reluctantly. When both of his eyes are closed, I leaned in a little, stopping when our faces are centimeters apart. "Don't open your eyes. If you do..." I left the threat open, letting him make up his own consequences in his mind. Taking another deep breath, I closed my eyes before I started to make a move once again, slowly leaning in to close the distance between our faces, determined to get this over and done with.

"Levi, what're you—" I cut him off by sealing his lips with mine, and it was enough for his breath to stop. Opening my eyes a little to take a peek at him, I saw his eyes wide open in surprise. Then slowly it returned to normal and I can feel his lips turning into a smile against mine.

He broke the kiss and it made me open my eyes completely, my mind starting to think of the reasons that might have caused him to do so. But all of my negative thoughts were immediately swept away like ashes by the wind when I saw the large grin that took place on his lips.

Not wasting any second he pushed me, making me lay on my back. He pinned me beneath him, his hands resting on the both sides of my head. I was about to ask him what he's planning but then he leaned in, our lips meeting in a slow kiss.

There's no word that can describe it other than perfect, his warm, slightly chapped lips pressed on mine sending sparks of electricity throughout me. Our lips moved in sync, gentle and sweet, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, one hand threading through his brown locks before locking my fingers in it. I basked at the feeling of us, kissing under the vast black sky with the stars as our witness, and I wouldn't find another way of having my first kiss taken other than this.

One hand cupped my cheek and I felt him nip at my lower lip before breaking the kiss, both of us gasping for air. He smiled at me, the corner of his eyes crinkled as he did so. He looked like a child who has gotten a treat, and somehow I know that he just did. I chuckled and pushed his hair back, leaning up to leave another short and chaste kiss on his lips. It just made his smile a whole lot wider.

"Stop grinning."

"How could I? You just fucking kissed me!"

I slapped his shoulder. "No need to shout it in my face, brat."

He leaned in again but I blocked it with my palm, getting a confused look from him. I smirked at his reaction and tutted. "Getting ahead of yourself now, are you?"

"But—"

"No buts. No more kisses."

He pouted and nodded, looking like a kicked puppy. I kept the smug look on my face even after I pushed him off of me, sitting up before ruffing his hair. "Stop moping, you little shit."

"But I want more."

"No kisses until I say so."

He looked at me with wide, pleading eyes. "Please? Just one last kiss? It doesn't need to be long."

Sighing, I leaned in closer and pecked his lips again. "Okay now?"

He nodded enthusiastically, smiling again like the idiot that he is. "Yes."

Rolling my eyes, I stood up and looked down at him. "Let's get inside and get some sleep, you overgrown kid."

He didn't respond to my name calling and just stood up, bringing the blanket and pillow with him. We just laid down inside the tent as soon as we entered, already comfortable with our position. It's dark inside the tent and I can't see a fucking thing.

"Oi, Rein." He hummed in response and I felt him move beside me. "Cuddle me."

He chuckled. "Yes, Your Highness."

In the next second I was pulled closer by him, my back against his chest with his arm wrapped around my waist. His chin is resting on top of my head and I felt him nuzzling it again.

It was comfortable and it felt like home. I can feel his breath on my nape, his body warmth taking off any of the coldness that I'm feeling, and I knew deep inside myself that I could really get used to this pleasant feeling.

"Good night, Levi."

"Good night."

It really is a good night.

***** 

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by my phone ringing. I kept my movements in the minimum, not wanting to risk waking the deep sleeper behind me.

I was momentarily blinded by the bright light coming off of my phone before my eyes slowly adjusted, a message flashing on the screen. I scowled. Who the fuck would text someone at three in the fucking morning? If this is Hanji, I'll fucking kill them.

I opened the message and saw that it came from an unknown number. It made me frown in confusion. Who the hell is this?

But what made me the confused the most is the content of the message.

**From: Unknown**

**03:18**

_I'll be back soon, Levi. I'll be coming to you soon._

I don't know what to think of it so I just stared at the message as if staring at it will fucking change anything. Then I felt Rein stirred beside me, softly calling out my name in a rather raspy voice.

"Levi...? Why are you awake?"

I locked my phone and placed it back to its place earlier. "Nothing, now go to sleep."

He didn't respond but pulled me closer to him. All I did then was close my eyes, trying to get back to sleep and pushing all of my thoughts away.

But what didn't leave is who that damn person is. How do they know my fucking name? Maybe it's someone that I know or else they wouldn't know who I am.

All I know since that night is that someone's going to return, and it might be Eren.


	11. Unplanned Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's five chapters. I would update more soon, but up until then, please enjoy these.

Time seems to went by faster and almost unnoticable after that night. Since that pleasant evening, everything seems to come into our lives calmly. Everything felt like it's in the right place and not even once we had a fight between us. We have constant bickering and exchange of harsh words between us but it's nothing serious.

Days, weeks and months passed like a blur. The season passed by quickly and now all the trees are left bare to the cold, the sky always hving a monochrome shade, and people are now forced to wear thicker clothes to fight off the cold. Being with Rein helped me from fighting the cold off, always wanting to cuddle with me every fucking chance he get. His warmth is very comforting in contrast to the coldness of the place, and even though I like the cold, being close to him is a much better feeling.

We also went out to several dates, going out to a cafe, to the mall, or even our frequent star gazing. We held hands even when we're in public, sometimes even a chaste kiss on the lips if I felt like it. It would commonly happen if some shitty bastards who doesn't know the word respect would fucking snicker or say some shits about us. The look on their face when we missed in front of them would always be priceless, even more whenever I fake a moan to get the reaction I want from them. I would flick them off with my middle finger and everytime it happen, Rein always look at me with a blush on his cheeks.

Rein's as weird, spontaneous, and as fucking sappy as he can as always. I would always received some shits from him, whether it be a bouquet, chocolates or other shits. I would always get teased by my so-called 'friends', with Hanji as their fucking leader of course. It's fucking irritating, but Rein would always make me keep my cool and remind me to just ignore them. I don't fucking know how he's able to handle that crazy thing, but he can deal with them without losing his cool.

We got closer than we did before, and it made me really fucking glad, not that I would admit it out loud. After class, we'll always be together at my apartment. It has become a natural occurance for us to watch movies, the movie soon being forgotten in favor of having small talks regarding to whatever random shits got our attention, mostly coming from Rein. He always have something to talk about, never losing anything to say which made boredom always almost nonexistent whenever he's around.

I still haven't gotten used to the way I feel whenever he's around, the way how I felt like I was electrocuted whenever our skin made the slightest contact, the way how his voice sound like a melody when he tells me something that made him excited, the way how a simple smile from him can change my mood no matter how bad it is. I can't understand how a chaste kiss in the forehead, cheek or lips can make me feel like I want to melt, the feeling of receiving this kind of affection new to me.

But still there are times when I notice him being restless, and there are times when he'll just space out like his mind is out of this fucking world. There are times when we're talking to each other and he'll suddenly stop answering, just looking at me with the same look that I cannot describe, the same look thay he gave me that night when we went camping.

I don't know why he's acting like that. I want to know why, but he wouldn't fucking tell me. That's commonly the reason why we fight, but at the end of the day, he'll apologize and say that he just have plenty of things in his mind. Even though I don't believe him completely, even though I believe that there's a deeper reason for him to act like that, I would still accept it and shrug my thoughts off, then everything will be okay.

We are fine, more than fucking fine, but there are times that I can't help but feel uneasy at how peaceful everything seems to be. Call me fucking paranoid or some shit, but I couldn't help it. I'm very pessimistic in the first place, and it's in my nature to worry and think of the worst every fucking time.

This day is a little different though. Rein came to my apartment a little later than usual, showing off a big smile that's adorning his face. The sight made me feel warm again, the place suddenly became brighter.

"Levi! I have some news!" His voice boomed throughout the otherwise silent place, his excitement flowing out of him. I can imagine him with a pair of dog ears and a wagging tail, making a small smile surface on my lips.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you smiling?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Tell me your fucking news. It gotta be good."

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and only then I noticed that he isn't wearing a coat. I immediately felt worried and pulled him inside my place, earning me a questioning look.

"What is that for?"

"Are you a fucking idiot?" Sighing, I shook my head and turned my back on him, starting to walk to my room to get some of his clothes that he left here. He followed, walking beside me. "Why the fuck would you go here without a coat on? Do you wanna get sick?"

He looked like he just realized that he isn't wearing a coat, and a light pink appeared on his cheeks. He scratched the back of his head while wearing a shy smile. "Oh, sorry. I am too excited to tell you the news that I just ran out of the house without grabbing my coat."

I looked down at his feet and noticed that he's wearing shoes. I ignored the thought of it threading on my floor, leaving marks of dirt on the way and just thought that he's not much of an idiot to forget wearing some shoes. "It's good to fucking know that you still have some sense of mind to wear a shoes."

"Well, I saw it at the entryway and just wore it." He stopped and bent down, removing his shoes and taking it before straightening up. "Sorry, I left some dirt on your floor."

I rolled my eyes and waved my hand dismissively, starting to walk again. "Tch, whatever." I opened the door and went inside, heading directly to my closet. I took a shirt of his and a towel, throwing it at him. "Change your shirt, you don't want to get a cold, aren't you?"

He nodded and went to the bathroom while I went out to make some tea. I started boiling some water as soon as I reached the place, preparing two teacups and adding some tea leaves. The process only took a few minutes to finish, and I reveled in the scent of tea before I turned around, surprised when I saw Rein standing at the entryway.

"What the fuck, Rein? Do you want to give me a fucking heart attack?"

Instead of an apology from him, I received nothing. He just continued to stare at me, looking at me with that aloof look on his face like his mind is once again too far away. None of this confused me, considering that he's been like that for weeks.

Making my way to him, I kept the frown that's knitting my eyebrows together, snapping my fingers in front of him once I'm infront of him.

"Do you want me to play some goddamn violin now?"

It seems to snap him out, looking around before turning his head down to look at me, a confused look on his face. "Huh?"

"I asked you if you want me to play a fucking violin so you can have your shitty dramatic sounds." I glared at him and flicked his forehead, his hand shooting up to rub it. "Stop spacing out, little shit."

"I'm—"

" _'Thinking about something'_ , yeah, yeah. I know. You've been like that for weeks. What got you so fucking worked up?"

"Nothing."

He looked like he wanted to avoid the subject so I let it be. I just sighed and turned around, walking back to the countertop where our tea is placed. "Have some tea."

He went to me and took a cup, blowing at it before sipping. "Thanks, Levi."

I just made a hum of acknowledgement and proceeded to drink my tea. The place was silent until Rein placed his cup down, taking in a deep breath before calling me. "Levi."

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to perform at a bar."

Surprised with what I heard, I choked on my tea, Rein rubbing soothing circles on my back. It took more than a minute before I composed myself again, and I shot him a confused look. "You'll what?"

He smiled at me once again and I knew that he's very glad about it. "You heard it. I'm going to perform at a bar."

"Perform what?"

"I'm going to sing." Ah, so that's it.

I nodded and hummed, taking my cup and lifting it to my lips, speaking before I took a sip. "Congratulations, I guess."

"Hmm, I'm very excited about it." He continued drinking his tea once again, filling the air with silence once again. I already finished mine so I cleaned the cup, waiting for him to finish his tea too. After that, we went back to the living room, sitting on the couch with his head resting on my lap again.

Starting to thread my hair through his unruly but soft as fuck hair, I asked, "When will you perform?"

"The night before Christmas." I hummed, watching him as he took my hand and played with my fingers, pinching my fingertips before kissing it, doing the same thing over and over again. Then he stopped, placing a kiss on the back of my hand before looking at me through his thick, brown eyelashes. "I want you be there."

"I will."

He smiled again, leaning up to sit before kissing me on the lips. Pulling back, he stared at me in the eyes before muttering a silent 'thank you'.

I nodded, the corner of my lips pulling up to a small smile. His eyes softened and we did just that, staring at each other like fucking idiots, but the way his eyes shine and look at me with affection always left me staring, unable to pull away like his gaze shackled me in.

"I love you, Levi. I always do."

*****

Another week has passed and I found myself being inside the car with Rein, driving to the airport to fetch her cousin Isabel. Isabel is just a year younger than me, and is much alike to Eren. I haven't seen her in years. Maybe that's why I immediately agreed to go when Rein asked me to.

When we reached the place, Izzy's already waiting outside, waving at us while grinning when she saw us. Rein smiled and waved back, Izzy starting to make her way to us.

"Big bro!" She ran towards me, tackling me into a tight hug which knocked the air out of my lungs. She pulled back, her grim never faltering and her turquoise eyes, the one ehich looked much alike to Eren's, sparkled brightly. "I missed you!"

"Ouch. You didn't even bother to give regards to your cousin?" Rein looked at Isabel with an offended look, earning me a chuckle. Isabel laughed while shaking her head, unwrapping her arms around me before moving to hug Rein.

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, Rein." Rein chuckled and ruffled her hair before hugging back. It didn't take long until both of them broke the hug. We started talking right then, talking about thing's going on in our life to catch up.

"So... Are you guys in a relationship?" I know that that question would most likely be asked so I already made up my mind about it. Rein and I's relationship isn't exactly a secret, so telling her isn't a problem.

"Yes, we—"

"We've been together for months. 2 months." Rein cut me off, wrapping his arm around my waist as he did so. Isabel looked at him with an odd expression at first before it slowly turned into a happy one. I can tell something is bothering her, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, but I've been seeing that same look on Rein's face for me not to recognize it.

"Ah, that's great!"

"It is."

An air of uneasiness took over us, leaving the three of us silent. I don't know why, but it fees like they're hiding something from me. The awkward atmosphere even when we started walking back to Rein's car. The ride was silent with both of them not talking which is very uncharacteristic of them.

Sighing, I shifted myself on my seat to face Rein, also looking at Izzy who's sitting at the back silently. I cleared my throat, catching their attention.

"Is there anything going on between the two of you? You're not acting like yourselves."

Isabel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shifting back to her usual self. "Sorry, Big Bro, I didn't mean it."

I didn't wait for the two of them to explain. I know that they won't tell me so it's useless for me to do so.

Finally, the uneasiness that reigned the air was gone. They started talking again, the car filled with random stories and laughter coming from the both of them.

We went to Rein's apartment, deciding to spend the whole day there to spend time with Izzy. She's still the same as she did back then, an energetic ball of sunshine and rainbows, and I can feel my energy being drained off just by watching her.

She reminded me so much of Eren, and it made me wonder how much he changed. Is he still that same passionate kid with anger issues that I used to know?

Izzy retreated to the guest room early, tired from hours of traveling. I was sitting on the couch at the living room when Rein came, a bowl in hand, and motioned for me to come to him.

"Why?"

"Let's go to the roof. We can't leave Izzy alone here."

I stood up and followed him, walking up the stairs and through the hallway, stopping when we reached the attic. He unlatched something and opened a window, big enough for us to crawl out which leads to the roof.

We sat down, the bowl of strawberries resting on his lap and only then I noticed that it was covered in cream. Breaking my gaze away from the food, I looked up and smirked, giving him a teasing look. "You're not ready, aren't you?"

He rolled his eyes and pushed me slightly. "I don't want to miss any night with you and besides, I wouldn't let our star gazing schedule be ruined."

I let a small smile rest on my lips as I pushed his hair away from his face, leaning up to kiss him on the forehead. His lower lip jutted out a bit, forming a small pout. "Only on the forehead?"

Now, it's my time to roll my eyes. "You're such a fucking child." But I still complied, leaning in to leave a peck on his lips. "There. Fucking happy now?"

He nodded and smiled, taking a piece of the cream-coated strawberry before bringing it to my lips. "Say 'ah'."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and opened my mouth, about to take a bite when he pulled his hand away. I glared at him while he kept on laughing.

"What the fuck, Rein?"

He held up both of his hands in a surrendering position, trying but failing to keep his laughs.

"Sorry, I—" He laughed again, taking another good minute before taking a deep breath to compose himself. I just looked at him the whole time, watching him with a bored and unamused expression.

"Are you fucking done now?"

"Yeah, sorry. Now open your mouth." He once again brought the strawberry near my lips. I caught his wrist and held it to prevent him from moving his hand again. I took a bite of it, the combination of sweetness and sourness of the fruit combined with the cream spreading throughout my tastebuds.

He ate what's left of it and laid down, one of his arm resting beneath his head. I did the same and he scooted closer to me, the bowl of strawberries now resting on his stomach.

"Hey, Levi." I looked at him and now we're face to face. "I love you."

I felt heat crept up my face as my stomach did backflips, my heart started beating faster again. "What is that for?"

"Nothing. I just want you to know that. Don't forget it, okay?"

I frowned, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Fucking seriously, Rein, what the fuck is with you?"

"It's nothing. Oh—" He sat up and took something out of his pocket. "Turn around."

"If that's a fucking knife I'll fucking kill you." Despite what I said, I complied, sitting up before turning around. In a second I felt his warm breath hitting my nape, making a shiver break throughout me which caused me to close my eyes.

Then I felt something cold around my neck and I opened my eyes to look at it. A silver necklace is now resting on my neck, a key hanging on it as a pendant.

"So, is it okay?" Rein's voice sounded unsure and I turned to face him, seeing the same look on his face. "It may sound very fucking sappy and you might not like it, but I'll still say it."

He took a deep breath and looked at me, a serious look now plastered on his face. "I really love you, Levi. Even if I tell it to you a thousand times, it will never be enough. And now I give you a key, and know that it's a key to my heart. You've stolen it a long time ago and I don't plan on taking it back. No matter what happens, always know that I love you with all my heart. I'll never stop loving you, Levi."

I was once again lost with words. Once again I was rendered speechless by him, my mind not able to create any coherent sentences. The way he looked at me robbed the air out of my lungs, my throat dry as a desert.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to speak, I just leaned in and kissed him, pouring all of the unspoken words into it, hoping that through this kiss he would be able to know what I feel. These are the times that I fucking hate myself for not having a way with words, for not being able to express my fucking self vocally.

That's why I poured all of it into the kiss and when our lips parted, we were gasping for air like we've been drowning, our faces flushed red. It took some time to compose ourselves and when we did, I opened my mouth to tell him what he really wanted to hear.

"I love you too, Rein."

*****

A few days had passed and I found myself laying on my bed with nothing to do. Rein told me that he wouldn't be able to come to my apartment and that I'm welcome to visit him at his anytime.

And so I dressed into some casual clothes topped with thicker sweaters, grabbing my phone before making my way out of my apartment. My walk to Rein's house was fast, my mind occupied by nonsense thoughts. On my way to the front door, I saw Armin came out from the house.

"Oh, Levi!" He waved at me when he saw me, walking up to me. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to visit Rein. Is he inside?"

"Yes, he's with his cousin, Isabel. Just go inside, I need to meet up with Erwin. Bye!" With that he left in a hurry and I proceeded.

I entered the house, pleased that it's clean enough. There's no clothes and other trashes laying around, no layers of dust covering the furnitures. Walking further in inside, I called for him. "Rein?"

When there's no one who answered, I just decided to go to his room. As I near the place, two voices got louder and louder and I recognized whose voices those were. Rein's and Isabel's.

"Come on, when are you going to tell him? You can't keep on acting, Eren!" Isabel's distressed voice rang out throughout the place and it made my heart pound in confusion and in nervousness. What are they talking about? Why is Isabel saying Eren's name instead of Rein's?

A loud groan followed after it and Rein's voice resounded. "I've been trying, Izzy! I tried to do it many times before but I couldn't! Do you think that I like everything that's happening right now?! Fuck! I don't! But I can't bring myself to do it!"

I can't move. My eyes went wide and I was left frozen in place, my mind taking too long to process everything that I heard. What are they fucking talking about? What act? Why does Izzy kept on calling Eren?

"Eren, please, you're hurting not only yourself but also Levi! You should tell him while it's still early! Why can't you do that?"

"I don't want him to fucking hate me, Iz. I love him, I—I can't do it knowing that he might hate me once he know." He sounded so defeated, like he knew that there's no way that's he's going to win. Like he knew that the losing battle that he kept on fighting for finally came to an end with the unfavorable side being with them.

"Do it while it's still a bit early, Eren, before it comes to a point where he will hate you for what you did."

Like I had been hit by lightning, I moved from the place where I'm standing like a fucking statue, jolting to the entryway of the open door. At first I saw nothing out of the ordinary, just Isabel standing a few feet away from Rein, who's sitting on his bed with his head on his hands, his elbows resting on his thigh. It made me more confused, confused on why Isabel kept on calling Eren when he's talking to Rein.

Rein lifted his head up and started to speak. "I—"

He was cut off when he looked at me, his eyes widening at the sight of me standing by his door.

Now it all made sense, why Isabel kept on calling Rein as his twin.

Because instead of seeing the familiar amber colored eyes, I was met by the sight of a pair of vivid turquoise eyes, the eyes that belonged to no one but Rein's twin.

It felt like the world stopped as I look at him in shock, feeling my blood run cold, my mouth opening as his name slipped out of it.

_"Eren..."_


	12. Chapter 12

It felt like everything became frozen, like we were in a movie that was put into pause when our eyes met, my mind reeling as my consciousness try not to believe what's happening right now. As I stared into his turquoise eyes, I can't help but think that everything's a fucking joke, a sick joke that someone did to me while cameras are hiding everywhere. What the fuck is this? What the fuck is happening?

 

None of us bothered to move nor utter a single damn word. The air is so full of tension, making my lungs feel constricted. I can feel my heart slowly starting to beat erratically, my eyes still wide as I look into an equally, if not, wider turquoise eyes of Eren.

 

Isabel is the first one who gotten over her shock. She slowly loosened her stiff body and look at me, her gaze holding nervousness in it as she sent me a wavering smile. "Levi..."

 

I didn't bother to look at her, keeping my eyes fixed on Eren who's still looking back at me, fear and panic reflecting in his eyes. Isabel moved and stood in front of Eren, blocking him from me. "Levi, how long have you've been here?"

 

Taking a few deep shaky breaths, I tried to compose my mind, reorganizing the mess it has become. I studied Isabel's nervous gaze on me, and it just made me more sure that everything I heard is true.

 

"Long enough to hear everything I need to fucking hear." My voice is surprisingly controlled, not voicing out any of my confusion, of my anger, of my hurt, of any of these damn emotions storming inside me. I never felt like this, never been this out of control of my emotions but this fucking time isn't like the rest.

 

It's like a fucking bucket of ice cold water was thrown at me, realization hitting me like a train traveling plenty of miles per hour. So all this time I was being fucking fooled? All this time I'm believing at something fake? All this time I am with Eren and not with Rein?

 

My body started to shake with anger, all the emotions swirling inside my body like a hurricane coming out. Eren stood up from his place behind Isabel, looking at me with a blank expression. The look he has on his face fueled the anger inside me, unable to believe that even after his fucking secret has been revealed, that even after I discovered that he has been fooling me all this fucking time, he has the nerve to look at me like that, like he did nothing wrong.

 

I couldn't speak despite having thousand of questions inside my mind. My hands curled into tight fists which will surely leave red crescent marks on my palm at the end of this all. I want to believe that this isn't real, that hurting myself would wake me up and return me to the real world, would return me to a world where being with Rein is anything but a lie.

 

Instead, it just made me more aware that none of these is a dream. That this is the painful reality that I need to face, that the reality I've been living at for the past few months is nothing but pretense.

 

"Izzy, move." His voice sounded so defeated, like he finally reached the end of the game. Why? Because he fucking got caught? Because he wouldn't be able to fool and play me like a fucking card again?

 

Isabel looked back at him, a pained expression on her face as she looked at him pleadingly. "Eren, let me—"

 

"No." Eren's stern voice cut her off, looking at her with a look that held finality in it. "This is my problem. Let me fix it alone. Leave."

 

Isabel looked at her with the same expression for a minute before letting out an exasperated sigh, knowing that there'll be no way to change his mind. She slowly walked away from him and to my direction, not bothering to look at me but keeping her gaze on the floor.

 

"Sorry..." She left after muttering that word to me and I have to close my eyes, taking a grip of myself at what's to come. Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked ahead, looking at Eren who's still looking at me with a blank face.

 

"Levi—"

 

"What the fuck is that?" Words came out stern and venomous and I saw him flinch at my words. "What the fuck is that all about?"

 

"Sorry..." I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, pain starting to blossom in my chest and spreading throughout every fiber of my system. Hearing him say that confirms it but my mind is too fucking dumb to take it all in. It stopped processing, not wanting to take any of these in.

 

"Tell me that what I heard is wrong."  _Please._ "Tell it to me, Rein. That isn't true, right? Fucking tell me. "

 

I waited for his response, waited in hopes of hearing what I want to hear from him. But it never came. What I received is the word that I fucking hate the most now.

 

"Sorry." That word again. That fucking word again. It made my blood boil and I glared at him, my stare stern and cold.

 

"Sorry? Sorry for what? Would you fucking tell me? Could you fucking explain it to me, Rein?" I threw my head back and forced out a laugh, a fake laugh that held bitterness and hurt in it. Then I looked back at him, still glaring. "Or should I say,  _Eren_?"

 

The look on his face changed, I can see his regret and sadness in it, mixed with hurt. Hurt? He shouldn't be feeling that. He's the one who fucking fooled me, made me believe that he's his twin and worst of all, made me fall for him. He made me fall for someone he isn't. Is everything he showed me also pretense? Is everything going on between us is just a fucking joke?

 

I want to laugh, want to pat him on the back while telling him that he did a good job on acting and making me believe him to the point where I fell for him but I can't. I can't because it hurts so fucking much. It hurts to know that I've just been used, that none of us is real. Everything between us is just as fake as he is.

 

"I'm so sorry, Levi."

 

"Fuck, Eren! Sorry about what? Sorry because you fucking fooled me?! Make me believe in that lie of yours?! Or sorry because you fucking made me fall for you, you fucking liar?!"

 

I felt something rolled down my cheeks, wet and hot and I knew that I am crying. My heart felt like it was ripped out and torn into shreds before it was placed back. Every nerve in me tell me that everything really is a lie, but deep inside me I know that I'm hoping that everything isn't real. That what I just heard is the true lie, that I've fallen for someone that I really know. That none of us is a lie despite knowing that it is.

 

Eren didn't speak. He just kept on looking at me with eyes filled with emotions, filled with hurt and regret. He made a step but before he was able to make another I stopped him.

 

"Don't move."

 

"Levi..." His voice sounded so hurt that it made my chest squeeze in pain. Seeing that he's hurting also pains me, but it's his fault that we were in this situation in the first place. "Levi, please, believe me. I'm really sorry."

 

"Fuck it, Eren! I don't want to hear your apology! What I wanted to hear is why?! Why did you fucking do that?!" My voice cracked at the intensity of my anger, my tears never failing to stop flowing. Every memory of what the two of us did starts to flash inside my mind, and it just helped on fueling my anger more and more.

 

He didn't respond. He just looked away from me, but my gaze isn't going to yield. I want to know the fucking truth, that is if there's even a bit of truth in all of these.

 

"Eren." My voice sounded so weak and I hate it. I hate everything going on now. "Why did you fool me?"  _At least tell me a good fucking reason, Eren. And maybe I can forgive you._

 

He stayed silent. He didn't move. I just stared at him like he's a fucking statue for minutes but time seemed to be stretched on that it felt longer than it has to be.

 

Then he finally moved, returning his gaze on me, his lips quivering as he responded to my question. "There's no reason, Levi."

 

It shouldn't have hurt this too fucking much but it did. Something must've snapped inside me because in a moment I walked to him, fists curled tighter while shaking in anger. I lifted my fists up and punched him, my fist landing on his jaw.

 

"Nothing?! You did that for nothing?! What do you fucking think of me?! A toy?! I'm not a fucking toy to be played with!"

 

He looked at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Being this near him enabled me to see how his eyes reflected his pain and regret in a greater intensity. His whole body is shaking just as bad as mine did.

 

"Dammit, Levi! I'm not playing you! I'll never do that to you!"

 

"But you already did! You already played it, you started it since the day that you told me you were Rein, since the day that you made me believe and fall for you!"

 

He groaned and closed his eyes, his hands shooting up to lock into his hair and pull it. After that he looked at me again, tears now flowing out of his eyes. "Levi, I did it because I want to be with you. I-I thought that if I were Rein, you will love me back. I only- I did it because I love you."

 

I scoffed, not being able to believe what I just heard. "Are you fucking kidding me? You did that because you love me? Can you hear your fucking self, Eren? What kind of twisted joke is that?"

 

"Levi, I know that Rein is the one you like. I knew it since we were kids. I have no hopes on you but I wanted to be with you as someone more than just a best friend. I want to kiss you, to hug you, I want to hear those words coming out from you. I only wanted to feel loved by you, Levi. Is that wrong? Is it wrong to ask for your love?"

 

"Is that wrong? You're asking me if that's wrong? It fucking is! You cannot justify what you did just by telling me that you love me! You should've just be true to yourself! Everything change, Eren. I may have fallen for you even if you aren't Rein but instead, you chose to fool me. You just made everything impossible for you, Eren."

 

Eren stepped closer and held my arm, tears never stopping its flow. He looked at me pleadingly, but I was too far gone and broken to even consider it. "Levi, please, I'm sorry. Forgive me. I-I'll do everything for your forgiveness. Just forgive me, please. I love you, Levi. I really fucking do."

 

"You're too fucking late, Eren. You already hurt me. You already fooled me. You broke my trust in you and for that, I'll never forgive you. Not after what you did."

 

I turned on my heels and started to walk away but he caught me, hugging me from my back. I stopped myself from letting out a sob as I feel his body shaking behind me, his tears soaking my shoulder as he let out a litany of sorry, but I already made up my mind. What he did is wrong and is in no way right, my trust on him already broken and there'll be no way to return it to how it was before.

 

"Let go of me, Eren." Instead of doing what I said, he just tightened his hold on me, refusing to let go. "Eren. Fucking let go."

 

"Don't leave me, Levi. Don't hate me. I love you, please believe me. I love you so fucking much."

 

I did my best to compose myself, preventing myself from crying. He deserves this, and this is the payment for what he did.

 

"You made me believe that you're your twin, Eren. You made me fall for you, believing that you're being true to me this whole fucking time. Do you really think that I can just let this all go and forget about it? That I can just shrug this off like nothing? I fucking can't, Eren. Now let me go before I say something that you wouldn't like."

 

His hold on me loosened and I broke myself from it, looking back to see a broken expression on his face. It made the pain I'm feeling inside more unbearable. I want to reach out and wipe his tears away,  to fix and erase that broken look on his face but I can't just let this go. Ignoring it, I just turned away from him, starting to make my leave, leaving everything behind. My broken trust, our relationship that is nothing but a lie. All I left in me is my heart, which feels too broken to be saved.

 

"Levi, I'm sorry. Please believe me when I say I love you." I heard him say when I was in the entryway. I kept my head down as tears started to come out again, falling like waterfalls. If only it can lessen the pain I'm feeling right now.

 

"It's hard to believe in it, Eren. Not after everything I discovered." I curled my hands into fists and I took a deep breath before continuing, "Now I'm not even sure if what I felt for you is real."

 

I quickly left after that, knowing that I cannot stay at that place any longer. Everything in it just makes the pain I'm feeling worsen, and I don't think that I can handle it.

 

Izzy stood a few feet away from the front door, pacing around with tear streaked face. Seeing me made her burst into tears again, running towards me before encasing me into a hug.

 

"I'm sorry, Levi. I'm so, so, sorry."

 

"None of this is your fault, Iz. There's nothing for you to apologize."

 

She pulled back a bit from the hug, opening her mouth to say something but a loud crash cut her off, followed by a wail full of pain.

 

"Eren..." She whispered his name, like she's being torned to choose who to comfort between us. I unwrapped her arms around me, taking a few steps away.

 

"I need to go. I cannot stay here any longer."

 

"Can you fix this?" She gave me a pleading look that broke me further. I hate seeing her like this, but her request isn't something I can comply to.

 

"Sorry, Iz, but I can't." I left without waiting for her reply, the sounds of Eren's scream the last thing I heard as I shut the door shut.

 

I walked back to my apartment, absentmindedly making my way through the streets as my mind wanders to what just happened. I still couldn't accept it, a small part of me is still denying everything despite being already proven as the truth. I never felt this much of an idiot before, never felt this played before. I couldn't believe what Eren did and how I fell for all his acts, even if some of those things are true.

 

I feel so numb, the pain just a light throb at my nerves and I concluded that it's better off this way. Feeling nothing is better than feeling all of the pain I experienced earlier, that intolerable pain that makes me just want to sleep and never wake up.

 

As I made my way inside the house, the memories I had with Eren flashed inside my mind once again and for once, I regretted that almost every single moment of us being together was spent here. Every corner I looked at reminded me of him, reminded me of us whenever we were together. Now all of it felt like a dream, a memory that will never happen again.

 

I went to my room and changed my clothes, the room that is supposed to be my sanctuary plagued by him. This is the place where I should find my comfort, where I can get away from everything that's hurting me, but how could I if I can see him here? If I can see him laying on my bed as he cuddled me, his arms wrapped protectively around my waist? How could I find my peace if I can hear his voice, his laughter, every time I close my eyes?

 

How could I fucking forget about what we had if he's etched not only in my mind, but in my damn heart?

 

I cannot believe how deep I fucking fell for him. It shouldn't be a problem if what we had is real, but it's not. Because the truth is he's not Rein, he's not the one that I fell in love with. Who I fell in love with is nothing but an act, and now we were left broken. Broken to the point where I don't even know if we can fix whatever we had.

 

I laid on my bed, closing my eyes as I try to ignore his scent in my sheets. But it just intensified the pain I'm feeling the throbbing ache earlier coming out once again, leaving a burning feeling inside me. Having your heart broken is one thing, but discovering that you've been fooled is another.

 

Knowing that there's no one except me around, I completely let down my walls, let myself wallow in the pain and betrayal I'm feeling, letting my tears fall freely from my eyes. I let out all the broken sobs I prevented earlier, hoping that in every tears I cry, the pain will subdue.

 

But it didn't, and it just made everything more painful.

 

There's only one person who can mend this, but that person is the sole reason why I'm being like this.

 

My phone rang and I took it, my vision blurry because of tears. I just answered the call and pressed my phone to my ear, waiting for the other person to speak.

 

_"Hey there, Shorty! What's—"_

 

"Hanji..." My voice sounded so weak and defeated but I didn't make an effort to stop it. They're one of the people who I trust, and I know that they wouldn't judge me by showing my weakness. "Please come here. It fucking hurts..."

 

_"Oh my god, my munchkin, are you alright? You're at your apartment, aren't you? Just wait for me there, sweetie, I'll come to you. Don't turn off your phone."_

 

I nodded even though they couldn't see me. They kept on talking, saying comforting things as they made their way. They kept on calling me pet names which made me sure that I sounded so fucking wrecked. My tears stopped flowing, and I just laid on my bed as I waited for them.

 

Soon enough I heard a car stopped by in front of the house. It didn't take long until Hanji came barging into my room, a worried expression on their face.

 

"Sweetie, what happened?" They made their way towards me and sat on the bed, pulling me into a hug. I can feel my tears starting up again, and I rested my head on their shoulder.

 

"Shh, it's okay, Levi. Everything will be alright." They kept on saying it, kept on reassuring me that everything will be alright. Deep inside me I want to believe them, even if it seems almost impossible.

 

I felt all of my strength left my body and sleep is pulling me to its comfort. "Go on, Levi. Rest. Then we can talk about your problem after you wake up. I won't leave." Hanji gave me a small smile and I laid back, burying myself into the pillows.

 

"Thank you, Hanji."

 

"Always for you, munchkin." And with that, I let myself succumb into darkness.


End file.
